The Amulet (The Time Chronicles Book 1)

by Michael Dodd

  Gerald was also an overweight, out of shape and oversexed individual. He was approaching sixty and was convinced that he was still a treat for the ladies. The idea that he had ever been a “treat” was up for debate by the nearly dozen women who were part of Timecorp. By consensus, it was decided that he had always been a dweeb.

  “Good morning, sweet cheeks,” Gerald said as he slithered into the break room with his morning latte. “You look like you spent the night doing what I’d like to do to you.”

  Cathy didn’t drink coffee, or lattes. She sipped her orange juice and thought of something Brenda (a colleague and mechanical engineer) had said about Gerald and the probability of his penis being larger that his thumb. She didn’t say anything, she just laughed. Gerald was unsure what she was laughing about, but he was sure he didn’t want to explore it. He walked out of the break room in hopes of a more welcoming female.

  “We’re supposed to have a meeting with Mr. Jagger today,” Helen Casto said. Helen was getting a cup of coffee. Cathy hadn’t noticed she was in the room. “For some reason, he wants all of us there today.”

  Cathy didn’t think much of what Hel en had just said, other than that the usual meeting with Mr. Jagger, the owner of MJ Technologies, was attended by only a few of the staff. In fact, to her knowledge, she had never met the man. Oh, well, she thought, whatever floats his boat. “I hope he’s not going to try to push some sort of timetable down our throats,” Cathy responded as Helen seated herself across the Cherrywood table. “Nothing good ever comes from science that’s put on the clock.”

  “I’m not sure,” Helen said, “I think he’s just going to give us a pep talk. For what he’s paying us, he can talk till he’s blue in the face.”

  “Have you ever met him?” Cathy asked, off-handedly.

  “No, but I’ve seen him before. He’s not very big, but he’s very handsome. I’ve heard he’s not married. Never been married.”

  Cathy’s eyebrows raised just enough for Helen to get the point. He was probably gay. Most 41 year old super-rich men who’ve never been married were probably gay.

  Helen responded to the gesture. “I don’t know. He doesn’t look gay. Maybe he’s just got so much money; he doesn’t need to buy the cow, as it were, to get all the milk he wants.”

  “Well, as long as he doesn’t try to milk me,” Cathy said with a chortle.

  Helen laughed as well. “As rich as he is, he could milk me any day of the week.”

  ‡

  Mick Jagger walked into the lush conference room and stood before the podium. He hadn’t planned on making a speech, so there were no notes to pull from his pocket or lines to read from a teleprompter. He just wanted to give his little group of time-travel experts a little pep talk. It was their work more than any other in his company that he was most taken with. It was his most closely cherished pet project. He also wanted to get a look at Catherine Akers…aka…Juno in the other timeline. He felt he owed it to Xylon to see that she was well taken care of and protected. He had no intention of being a mother hen, just in seeing to it that she was financially secure, physically safe and emotionally at peace.

  Mick wondered, as he looked over the thirty-odd people in the room, catching sight of Ms. Akers, whether she would recognize him as the man who’d ask her the odd questions about time travel a few years back. From the look on her face, that didn’t seem to be the case. Her facial expression showed no trace of recognition.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Mick began, “I hope I’m not keeping you from anything too important. I just wanted to take a few minutes and tell you how much I appreciate all you are doing and assure you that I am well aware that there is no more qualified group to take on this challenge than you.”

  Mick reached into his pocket and felt the contours of the amulet he had given Xylon and which Xylon had returned to him before his death. It was something he did quite often; it gave him comfort to know it was always there. He was well aware that it should now be given to someone so that they might travel back 60 years and fix some great tragedy that had occurred in earth’s past; he simply wasn’t ready yet. Also, he was unsure of what to have the amulet holder fix. Of course, it was Xylon that should have sent someone back in time from 2070, once his mission was completed. Why he had failed to do so was a mystery that Xylon never chose to divulge.

  “ While all of you are well paid and highly motivated, I’m sure that even the most true-believing among you have your doubts as to whether time travel can be achieved. You would hardly be human if you did not have uncertainty; however, I can assure you that time travel is not only possible; it has already been achieved.”

  The audible gasp from the small group was palpable. Did he just say it had already been achieved? What was that supposed to mean? If it was already a reality, what were they doing here?

  Mick smiled reassuringly and continued. “Let me make one point clear,” he said, “If time travel is ever achieved in the future, then it has already been achieved. Hence, if a person from the future is ever capable of time travel, then it is only logical that he or she would have already traveled back in time. Perhaps not to this time, but likely so.”

  Kenneth Graham, a particle physicist raised his hand and was recognized. “Mr. Jagger, are you simply telling us that time travel, if ever achieved, in essence has already been achieved because a future time traveler would likely be among us; or, are you saying that you have some type of demonstrable proof that such an event has occurred?”

  Mick had only meant to give the group a pep talk and remind them that the seemingly impossible is achievable; however, he suddenly realized that what this group needed was verifiable proof, thereby changing the group’s paradigm. He bowed his head a moment and then lifted his eyes with hesitancy. “This is the year 2140,” he began, then after a brief pause, for effect, said, “I was born in the year 2159. In 2180, at the age of 21, I travelled back in time to the year 2120 to prevent an asteroid from virtually destroying the earth in the year 2125. I was successful in this mission.”

  The eyes of everyone in the room were fixed upon Mick, not with admiration and awe, but with genuine concern that the man had lost his mind. Because of his unique position, however, they stayed silent and continued to listen to their employer’s insane story.

  “In 2125 , I sent a man back to the year 2065 to stop World War Three from occurring in the year 2070. He was successful, as well, which is why you live in the kind of freedom you enjoy today. The man I sent back in time was none other than Michael Xylon, the man who created MJ Technologies.”

  As Mick looked upon the faces of incredulity, he smiled with understanding eyes and stepped away from the podium, approaching the classroom-sized set of chairs as a teacher might near his students to make a point more certain. “I understand that you probably think me mad; however, if a group such as you cannot believe me, then who could? Nevertheless, I am prepared to prove it to you.”

  Mick reached into his pocket and pulled out the amulet. Since he had already used both sides of it, it had no power for him, yet he handled it with care. He lifted it up to his audience and said, “This is the means by which I and others have traveled through time. It is an amulet that was given to me by a woman named, Gaia, who came back to my time from the year 2240 to stop a destructive breed of microscopic machines from taking control of the world.”

  Gerald piped in, “Mr. Jagger, with all due respect, if you are from the future and have a workable vehicle for time travel in your possession, why have you spent so much money, time and resources on a project to invent time travel?”

  Mick held the amulet up for inspection. “Because,” he said in explanation, “First of all, I do not know how it works. Second of all, it will only take you back 60 years into the past. As you can see, there are two sides to this amulet. The one side,” he turned it towards the group for better viewing, “has raised markings, while the other,” he turned the amulet, “has engraved markings. With one side you will go back 60 years int
o the past, with the other, you will travel back only 60 seconds.”

  “Sixty seconds? What’s the point of that?” Gerald retorted.

  “I have no idea,” Mick replied, “I didn’t invent the thing and I don’t know who did or why they made it this way, if in fact, they made it at all and didn’t just discover it.”

  Kenneth Graham asked the obvious question. “Is there any way you could give us a demonstration? Could you show us how it works?”

  Mick smiled. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to do, Dr. Graham,” he said, “Unfortunately, once someone uses the amulet, they cannot use it again. I have already used both sides; however, if I could have a volunteer, I think I can make my point clear to everyone in the room.”

  Twenty hands shot up. Again, Mick smiled at their enthusiasm and called on Dr. Graham for the

  demonstration. “Very well, Dr. Graham, if you would come to the front please,” As Dr. Graham rose, he continued in explanation, “Now, for the purpose of demonstration, we will, of course, use the side of the amulet that will transport Dr. Graham back 60 seconds.”

  When Dr. Graham approached, Mick held out the amulet, ostensibly to hand it to him; but, before he did, he warned him of its dangers. “Before you take this into your hand, Dr. Graham, I must first explain how it works. In order to travel back in time, one must only press one’s thumb firmly against one side of the amulet for five seconds. If you wish to go back 60 years, you press the raised side; if you wish to go back 60 seconds, you press the engraved side.” He looked at Kenny Graham and said, “Do you understand? You may hold it, but do not press firmly against either side unless you mean business.”

  Dr. Graham took the amulet from Mick with trepidation. He allowed it to lie in the palm of his hand without any manipulation.

  “Now, I’d like to make my point to each and every one of you, so I will ask that you all participate in this demonstration.” He turned and pointed to the clock on the wall. “I want you all to look at that clock and pay special attention to the sweep second hand.”

  Everyone responded by ogling the clock, unsure of what would or could happen. “Now,” Mick said, “when that second hand hits 12, I’d like all of you to get out of your chairs and come to the front of the room. You will all then clasp hands, making sure that each person is touching the other, with one touching Dr. Graham. Then, I will instruct Dr. Graham to press firmly on the engraved side of the amulet. You will then suddenly find yourself reseated in your chairs, because that’s where you were 60 seconds prior.”

  Mick glanced back at the clock. “Okay,” he said, “when the second hand hits the 12, everyone get up quickly and form a group at the center of the room. Make sure you all are clasping hands in a row leading to Dr. Graham.”

  The second hand hit 12. “Okay,” Mick said, “Everyone get up and come to the front, clasping hands.” Everyone did as Mick asked and were soon huddled in a mass group around Dr. Graham. Everyone was touching one another. “Okay, Dr. Graham, press your thumb firmly on the engraved side of the amulet. Make sure it is not the raised side.”

  Dr. Graham hesitantly, pressed down on the engraved side of the amulet and held it for five frightening seconds. Suddenly, everyone in the room, except for Dr. Graham and Mick Jagger were right back where they’d been a minute before, sitting in the chairs, looking at the clock. It didn’t take long for them all to realize what had happened. The murmuring and giggling around the room were audible signs of the group’s astonishment.

  Mick smiled back at the agape audience and said with satisfaction, “Have I made my point?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  2080

  Cindy revived quickly enough to retain her slack-jawed appearance upon awakening. Michael was a little less surprised, but nonetheless, astounded. The whole time, Gates’ smile never left his face. “I’m sorry if I startled you;” he said as his mother and father slowly sat at the table, wideeyed and speechless, “but, I couldn’t think of a better time to show up.”

  Cindy didn’t want to accept the possibility that what Michael had told her could be true; after all, the concept of time travel was only about a half-hour old for her. Michael was less hesitant, but equally distraught. The idea that his son—his 10 year old son—was now sitting before him at the age of…what…seventy? It was almost too much to take in. “Gates,” Michael said, leaning closer, closely looking over his “son”, “Is that really you?”

  “Yes, dad,” Gates said, “I realize now why you were so protective of that amulet. It really packs a punch.”

  Cindy was still looking at Gates as if he was an alien, which, to a certain extent, he was. “Gates,” she began to weep, “Oh my God! What’s happened to you?” She quickly rose and launched herself at her now elderly son. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What did that stupid father of yours do to you?”

  She embraced him so tightly that he had to respond. “Not nearly as much as you’re doing, mom. Ease up, will you? I’m an old man now.”

  Michael couldn’t imagine what his son must have gone through. “Gates, I’m sorry I didn’t hide that thing in a more secure spot.” He looked at his son with deep feelings of guilt. “Dear God, Gates, how did you get along? I can’t imagine what it must have been like for a ten-year old boy to suddenly find himself in the year 2020 without any idea how he got there. Tell me what you’ve been doing the last 60 years. Why didn’t you contact us earlier?”

  “Well, dad, I couldn’t have contacted you earlier; you wouldn’t have understood. Until I disappeared from this timeline, you could not have understood, nor done anything about it. As far as what I’ve been doing for the last sixty years? Well, that’s gonna take a little time.”

  For the next 2 hours, with his mother seated at his feet, weeping, Gates explained the events that occurred in his life over the past sixty years.

  At first, he explained, he didn’t know what had happened. One second he was standing in his mother’s and father’s bedroom, the next, he was standing in the middle of someone’s backyard. He said that it was immediately apparent, even for a 10 year old, that something extraordinary had happened.

  “Oddly, it did not take me long to realize I was still in Kenilworth. As I walked around, I could see the Kenilworth Fountain, the Hiram-Baldwin House and the entrance to the Kenilworth Club. I walked a little further and recognized the beach on Lake Michigan where we used to go every Saturday. I even recognized Pee Wee Field where I played little league baseball. I could see cars going down the street, but they were not like anything I’d ever seen before.

  “As I looked north, I could see the skyline of Chicago: the same skyline I’d seen all my life and from the same angle and distance. There were some minor changes, but it was there…the Sears Tower and all.

  “ Now that I look back, I should be pretty proud of myself; because, I somehow realized immediately that I was in the same place but an earlier time. I’d traveled through time. Once I’d made that realization, I was much more able to handle what came next. I immediately made the connection between the amulet and my travel through time.”

  Gates went on to explain that the woman in the house that had previously occupied their present one was a widow: a very wealthy widow who had never had children. She had taken him in immediately and, while she was always unconvinced by his story of time travel, nonetheless raised him as her own until he left for college at the age of 18.

  “So you spent the next 8 years right here in the same spot you’d lived before?” Michael asked.

  “Yes, Dad, just in a different house. It made my life a lot easier because I was familiar with the area. The weird part was getting used to life in the early 21stcentury. It’s a whole lot different than today.

  “In 2028, Mexico wasn’t even an American state. As a matter of fact, people were up in arms over the continuous flow of illegal Mexican immigrants coming over the border. Little did they know, in a of couple decades, Mexico would be the 51ststate. Canada wasn’t part of the United States either. It w
as pretty weird.

  “Anyway, I got my undergrad degree, Masters and PhD in Computer Engineering in just under five years. I guess I just had an aptitude for it. I was well aware that you and Mom were going to create the biggest computer technology business in the world, so I gravitated towards that field.

  In 2035, I got a job at Microsoft, if you can believe that!? I spent the next 25 years with them, helping them to take computer science technology to a whole new level. Of course, I was planning to join your company in 2070, but something happened that I didn’t expect and was completely unprepared for.”

  Michael was intrigued. The idea that just an hour ago he was making breakfast for his 10 year old son, and now, here he was, a 70 year old man telling him his life story…well, it boggled the mind. “What happened, Gates?” he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “Well,” Gates explained, “ On April 4th of the year 2065, I was at a party that was given in honor of Microsoft’s 90th anniversary. Everybody who was anybody in the field of computer technology was there. I even met Bill Gates’ son. When I told him I was named after his father, he and I talked for quite a while. Anyway, there was a man there who was all the talk because of a new breakthrough in what he called, Digital-Temporal Mechanics. It was supposed to be some kind of information time machine. He claimed he could send information forward or backward in time.

  “Well, you can imagine how I reacted to that, being a time-traveler myself. So, I managed to finagle an introduction to the man and talked with him for almost an hour. I think he found me interesting because I was one of the few who not only found his concept interesting, but wholly believable. So, as I talked to this man about temporal placement and displacement, he nonchalantly reaches into his trouser pocket and pulls something out. Then, he begins to fiddle with it, almost in the same way one might fiddle with a lucky rabbit’s foot. He kept twisting it over and over in his hands as he spoke to me. It reminded me of Captain Queeg in the Caine Mutiny…you know, with the steel balls? Anyway, I chanced to look down at it, and low and behold, it was the same amulet I picked up off of your nightstand. The one I later realized was responsible for sending me back in time.”