by E. R. Mason
“Wow! That’s a bad one. Changing something in your family just before your birth is usually catastrophic. All I can do is warn you of what to expect and hope your mind can handle it.”
“What will it do to me?”
“That’s hard to guess. Both you and I will remember everything that has happened and as I’ve been saying, any changes that anyone made will be part of the new timeline.”
“What about that famous argument that if you went back in time and changed something, that might cause you to never go back in time in the first place. Then if you never went back in time you couldn’t have changed the thing you changed, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera . . .?”
“It doesn’t work that way. There is a simple law of time that is unbreakable. The past cannot be changed, it can only be added to. Time is a single unbroken line. So let’s say you go back in time and you stop the Titanic from hitting that ice berg. The timeline does not rewrite itself. Instead it loops back and creates a new timeline parallel to the original and goes on from there. So history has not been changed actually, it has only had a new loop added to it. In that way, if someone murders someone for example, they cannot go back in time and change that. It will always remain recorded as part of history. What we remember here on Earth can seem continuous and complete, but in the higher dimensions, the full path of the timeline is always apparent. No one gets away with anything, and no good deed is ever overlooked.”
“Geez . . .”
“When you and I reset the timeline by destroying that ship the timeline will seem normal to most people, but not you or I.”
“So my brain is going to explode.”
“It’s not funny, Jax. When that Z-particle generator goes off and we are thrown back to the future, you will remember things just as they were before any of this happened, but your mind will also be forced learn the new timeline with all the changes that have occurred. The old timeline and the new one will hit you in just the few seconds it will take to be thrown forward. We don’t know what that note you left for your father will do. You may have a complete new history, 19 years of new experiences your mind will have to deal with in just a few seconds. Your brain will be trying to reconcile both timelines at once.”
“Has anyone ever survived this kind of thing?”
“These types of events are all so different there is nothing to compare them to, and I won’t be there to help you. I may not even exist in your new timeline, but you’ll still remember me from this one.”
Concern suddenly crept into Jax’s mind. “So I won’t be there to help you, either?”
“No, but I should be okay. I’ll come and find you the first thing.”
“Have you gone through this before?”
“They give you short term time problems to train you. So I’ve been through these circumstances in situations that covered just a few weeks, but I’ve never been through anything of this depth and importance.”
“So what will I feel when this hits?”
“There’s no way to know, Jax. I’ll get to you as fast as I can, but there may be radical changes taking place in your mind before I do.”
“So you can’t change the past. You can only add to it.”
“On a celestial level that’s the way it is. Your whole life story is recorded like a book. But here on this Earth, it’s a complicated history.”
Jax looked out the open back doors at the patch of forest they were hidden in. The colors were fading giving way to shadow and darkness. Above the tree tops a few stars were beginning to flicker on. A bright, nearly full moon was rising in the sky. Bombers would be coming soon, Jax could feel it.
Two hours later, the first rumbling angered the airwaves. An orange glow illuminated the distant horizon. Skyla wasted no time. Even before the first wave had subsided, she was racing toward the war zone. As they entered the outskirts of the city, the streets became deserted and ghost-like. One building had already burned out. Smoke and ash engulfed and surrounded it. Jax needed no cueing. He bundled up the belongings of Neil Kent, found a way inside the carnage, and set up the clothes and ID so they would be easily found.
Back on the road, a second wave of bombs began before they had time to escape the business district. One headlight on the truck failed but it did not slow Skyla. She drove like a commando on a raid.
The road to Demon House was clear. As they approached they turned off as close as they dared and urged the truck through an adjacent field where the second fake chemical drum could be seen from the house. With the canister set up as close as possible, they drove around with lights off to the same familiar spot in the woodland they had used so many times before. The next job was the buried Z-particle generator. Skyla held her breath as they searched the woods but her concern was unjustified. Digging with tools from the truck, they found the silver container exactly where it had been left.
Jax carried the second gas canister and the climbing gear. Skyla brought the generator and bolt cutters. Under moonlight, they worked their way through the woods and along the perimeter fence until the point closest to the house had been reached.
“I don’t believe it,” whispered Skyla. “All the gate and patrol guards are inside because of the bombing. There’s just one guard over by the front door. Do you see the light from his cigarette?”
“I’ve got him. Are you ready for me to cut the fence?”
“Quietly, please. As quietly as possible.”
Jax began to clip fence links, one at a time, very carefully. When a large enough hole had been created, he maneuvered the gas canister inside the fence and looked at Skyla for approval.
“Just over there past that last tree, where they won’t notice it until we pull the pin.”
Jax nodded and slipped through the fence. He slowly rolled the barrel between the thin crop of trees and at the clearing pushed it out ahead as far as he dared. It came to rest directly in front of Demon House 20 or 30 yards away.
Back at the fence, he brushed himself off and looked at Skyla for more direction.
“Wow! We’re ready!” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure we’d get this far. So now you need to sneak out into the field and pull the pin on the first canister, then hurry back and we’ll set off the other one, then we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Jax took a deep breath, crouched, and started to move out but stopped suddenly. “Wait, do you hear that?”
“What?”
“Just wait a second.”
A low drone began to fill the air. Jax nodded to Skyla. “I don’t believe it. It’s another wave of bombers!”
“That’s perfect! Hurry! Go set off the first canister!”
Jax scurried out into the field, knees bent, stooped over for concealment. As he reached the canister, the roar of German bombers passing overhead rippled the air. He found the barrel ring and yanked it. A small stream of purple smoke began to flow.
Back at the fence, he found Skyla inside the perimeter pulling the ring on the other canister. She scrambled back behind a veil of smoke flowing from it.
“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Jax in a terse whisper. “I was supposed to get that. Those guards have real guns you know and they’re not afraid to shoot anybody they get a notion to.”
Skyla ignore the complaint and pointed at Demon House. The single guard on watch had already noticed the smoke and was now moving apprehensively across the lawn toward the canister. His weapon was leveled and ready. His expression was one of fear and concern. Halfway to the barrel, he straightened up, assumed a look of utter fright and ran back to Demon House, bursting through the front door yelling. A moment later several men exited with him but stopped abruptly upon seeing the gas cloud. One of them looked westward and pointed to the second canister in the field. Together they raced back into Demon House where a fury of activity could be seen through the windows. Within seconds lines of soldiers were racing out the front door wearing gas masks. They threw themselves into vehicles and charged through the closed main gate.<
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It was over in less than five minutes. Suddenly Demon House looked deserted. Skyla squeezed back through the hole in the fence and dragged the climbing gear through behind her. Jax followed with the cable cutters. They passed through the waves of smoke and found the front door left ajar. Inside, the place was as clean as a hospital ward. In the kitchen, the stairs to the basement were well lit. The basement was as spotless as the rest of the place and packed with electronics consoles, crude radar stations, and radio equipment.
In the well room, the well itself was the only thing unchanged. There was no ladder descending into it, but the green swirling effervescence blocked any vision below.
There was no time to waste. Jax tied-off the lines while Skyla fastened her harness. When they were ready, the Z-particle generator was strapped to Jax’s back and the climb down began with Skyla following. Once again, descending through the foggy whirlpool left moisture on everything. With headlamps burning, they lowered to the hard rock floor.
The cavern was different this time. There was no body lying against the far wall. Pools of water covered the floor in spots. The passageway to the next chamber was wide open.
The two time travelers freed themselves from their lines, gathered up the gear and headed into the next chamber. There were new bodies there. Two men in SS uniforms on the left. One on the right. There were large print drawings scattered around the cave on the floor and on the table.
Most striking of all was the ship. The mirror polished body was almost completely uncovered. Only a portion of the saucer was embedded in rock. To Skyla’s relief, a hatch with ascending stairs was open against the rock wall. She glanced at Jax and they headed that way.
There was a hum coming from inside. As carefully as possible they climbed the grated aluminum steps and into the glow of interior. The ship looked like something from the distant future. A circular central core was pulsing golden light. Control consoles lined the circular outer walls. Most of them were dark, though a few still had lights flashing. Jax walked the circular passageway and came across a dead SS officer slumped over in a pilot’s seat. A Luger lay on the floor beside him. Display screens with data were illuminated around his head. A section of power panels still showed active power. As Jax came back around to the hatch, Skyla was kneeling on the floor unpacking the generator. She opened a small door open on the device. An inner compartment had a keypad and readout.
“I’ll reset it to a radius of thirty feet, and I’ll give us 20 minutes to get clear. If they catch us coming out of the well we can’t take a chance of them coming down here.”
Skyla placed the device up against the center core, typed into the keypad and looked up at Jax. “Still have your pilot watch on?”
Jax held up one wrist to show it.
“Twenty minutes from 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . now!”
“I have it,” replied Jax.
“Let’s get out of here,” replied Skyla.
They scrambled down from the ship and raced back to their lines. They exchanged worried glances and hooked on. Jax helped Skyla into her loops and waited for her to begin the ascent. Her initial climb was too hurried and awkward. He held the ropes until she had a good rhythm, then started up after her.
With no ladder to help, the second half of the climb was more challenging for Skyla. She tired at two different levels and had to pause. Jax kept an eye on his watch and waited patiently.
After what seemed like an eternity, Skyla hooked one arm over the top of the well. She paused again to rest, then worked one leg over the top and slid out onto the floor. Jax followed, lifting himself out with a push up on the sides of the well head. As Skyla climbed to her feet to unhook, he checked the time: seven minutes left.
“Glad you didn’t leave any less,” he whispered as he pulled off his harness.
“I may have overestimated my climbing ability,” she answered.
“Can we make it out of here or should we even bother?”
“I’d like to be on more solid ground,” replied Skyla.
Together, they stepped through the well room door, but stopped abruptly.
Just outside, two soldiers with gas masks and machine guns stood waiting. One of the men grabbed Skyla by the arm and pulled her a few feet away. The second man motioned Jax to raise his hands. Jax stood with his arms raised looking at Skyla’s tearing eyes staring back at him. He dared a look up at his watch.
“Sixty seconds,” he said out loud.
“What was that,” the muffled voice of one of the soldiers demanded.
A tear escaped Skyla’s eye. Jax nodded to her in agreement.
“I love you,” she shouted.
A deep thud shook the floor and instantly the world disappeared.
Chapter 26
Jax fought for consciousness as his mind spun down into oblivion. He seemed to be plummeting through a vortex of fractured memories. Lightning bolts of emotional pain sliced through the vision of it. Garbled sounds from a thousand voices phased in and out. He seemed to be traveling in spirit only, diving toward an eternal emptiness.
Death seemed nearby. It was the only logical conclusion. As he waited for the end, the bizarre torrent around him began to turn in a calliope of faces, places, and events. The distorted collage became glimpses of some familiar memories, others completely new. The panorama of confusion began to pick up even more speed as he dove down into it.
Suddenly the death dive slowed and he felt himself gradually being dragged upward. He tried to focus his mind in search of what lay ahead and found himself flying through a tunnel of historical Earth events that were meshed together in an unrecognizable mass.
Convulsions began. His body had somehow returned and now travelled with him. Two pathways lay ahead, one on the right, one on the left. The pathways were still more streaming flashbacks passing him on either side. On the right, visions of bombers and flak, while on the left computer terminals and strange documents. As the banners of discord approached and sped by faster and faster, a light gradually formed ahead. It grew larger and brighter. Nausea erupted from his mouth. Light filled his vision and became blinding.
Sight and silence suddenly returned. Jax found himself sprawled out on a tiled floor staring at the base of a closed door. He tested his fingers. They worked. His arms and legs moved on command. He rolled over onto his back, tried to slow his rapid breathing, and looked around. This was his bathroom at home. At least he had survived this far. He continued to lie there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to collect himself. There was drool and vomit on one side of his face. He dared to wonder who and where he was now. Maybe that was a bad thing to think about. He still felt like Jax Eaton.
Jax finally dared to push up and search his surroundings. The bathroom light was off but daylight was streaming through the glazed window. He struggled to his feet enough to hang over the sink. He turned on the cold water and washed his face. In the mirror he noticed his sweatshirt and pants. They were the same ones he had been wearing with Skyla at Demon House before the generator exploded. He could remember that much, at least.
He shut off the water and noticed his old blue towel was hanging nearby. He dried himself. Somehow, everything seemed peculiar but okay. All that he had done with Skyla was there in his mind as it should have been. He had been a bomber pilot for the past two years, even though that sounded insane even to him. Maybe the Z-particle generator hadn’t worked. No, that was impossible. He had been thrown back here to the present. Skyla was gone. She had to be onboard her boat and was now racing to reach him. Maybe he had not affected time enough to change anything after all. He was back now and everything seemed just as it should. This was the best they could have hoped for. They had taken out the Nazi ship, eliminated the time distortion at Demon House, and not harmed the timeline in the process. Skyla would be exuberant.
Jax straightened up and breathed a sigh of relief. He grabbed paper towels from the shelf and cleaned up the vomit on his clothes and floor. The next logical thing would be a cup of mo
dern tea to settle things down while awaiting Skyla’s arrival. The rest of the answers would come then.
Jax opened the door and peered out into the house. All was as it should be. He could hear his Mom rustling around downstairs in the kitchen. Wouldn’t she be a wonderful sight to see.
He stepped out and headed down but had to catch himself on the hand rail. There was a bit of weakness in the knees and a touch of dizziness.
The bright kitchen lights were on and his Mom was crouched behind the open refrigerator door. The smell of brewed tea was overwhelming. Jax grabbed a cup from the counter, smiled to himself, and poured. He pulled out a chair and sat, continuing to smile as his Mom banged things around in the fridge. He rose up to look out the window over the kitchen sink. The sun was shining brightly and the trees and plants outside were celebrating it.
“My God, Jax. What the hell have you been up to?”
Jax nearly dropped his tea cup at the booming sound of a man’s voice. His head snapped around to look and staring back at him from the closed fridge was his father.
“You’ve been up all night, haven’t you? Son, I don’t know what you were doing last night but you look 10 years older. I know you’re celebrating graduation but if your Mom sees you like this she’ll have a fit.”
Jax stared wide-eyed with his mouth open in disbelief.
“What the hell have you been doing, anyway? I’ve never seen you look this bad. You are so lucky your Mom’s at her tennis lesson. You better clean up real good before she gets back here. I can only cover you just so much, boy.”
“Mom is taking tennis lessons?”
“This isn’t funny, Jax. You didn’t really take any drugs, did you? You know how bad that’ll screw up your flight status, mister. For God’s sake, your Mom’s not taking a tennis lesson! She’s the instructor! Are you on some kind of drug? You better tell me.”
“N . . . no, sir. I’m not on anything. I’m just half asleep.”