Blood on the Water

by Mark Hildebrandt

  The men were wearing snug fitting burgundy tunics fastened tightly at the neck. The tunics closely followed the contours of the body to mid-thigh and were belted at the waist. There were insignias on the arms and breast, but they were unlike anything James had ever seen. He was certain they were not British military, even though the burgundy tunics did remind him of the British Foot Guard Regiment. He searched his mind for any recollection of the uniform insignias but could not place them as part of any modern, or even recent army.

  The pandemonium raging in his head had completely replaced the nausea with an equally unsettling feeling of confusion. He slowly scrutinized each guard in turn. Both were about his height and weight, and clearly military, neither man carried any extra pounds. Since they weren’t talking, and his confusion was only growing, he looked to the man on his right and said, “Excuse me, I seemed to have dropped my customs declaration card in the corridor. Can you tell me where to get a replacement? And I must say those are some unique customs uniforms. Not what I would have expected, I always thought the British were so very … traditional.”

  The response only made things worse, a flood of words began bellowing from the man on the right, but the language was not English. James had studied several modern and classical languages, and some words spewing from the guard seemed familiar, but none were recognizable. The cadence seemed to most closely resemble Italian, clearly a romance language, but the words were a giant hodgepodge. In addition to the Romance languages, he almost recognized words from several different Germanic languages, Arabic, Hindu, Chinese and even Japanese. When the flow stopped, James just looked from one guard to the other, “I say, don’t people speak English in England?” He asked in his best rendition of a Monty Python skit. He hoped one of the guards would crack a smile and explain the joke. Everyone would laugh, and he could get on with his vacation.

  His hopes were dashed when once again he was bombarded with words just beyond his understanding. Then the taller of the two, looked him in the eye and said, “Vade mecum!” Without giving him time to think or answer, each guard grabbed an arm and the three marched off down the hall.

  Wait a minute James thought. Vade mecum, those words are familiar. That’s it. It’s Latin for come with me. He wanted to holler out stop but couldn’t seem to muster the words. With a guard on each arm, they escorted, or rather pulled him, at a very brisk pace down the shiny gray corridor. As suddenly as they started, the guards stopped, and James had a momentary battle trying to control his momentum, which wanted to keep going. The three turned and faced the shiny gray wall. The guard on the left said something, and the section of the wall directly in front of them seemed to vanish. The guards escorted James into a small room, which was furnished with only a table and two chairs. One of the guards pulled out a chair, pointed to it, and waited for James to sit. As soon as he did, they turned, left the room, and the section of wall rematerialized, sealing James in.

  James wanted to reach down grab a big chunk of skin, and pinch as hard as he could. Perhaps that would wake him from this dream. Surely, he would discover, he was still packed into that tiny coach seat somewhere over the North Atlantic. As he was tentatively reaching for his leg, and it was tentative for fear the pinch might not wake him up, the wall once again disappeared. This time it was not a pair of military men standing in the opening, but a tall attractive woman. As she looked at James a warm disarming smile formed on her face. Reflexively, James returned the smile and at the same time felt his tension begin to wane. She was tall, perhaps five ten, with dark hair and brown eyes. Her face was strong, yet the features epitomized feminine beauty, and there was something very familiar about her. He had seen her before, perhaps in some long-forgotten dream an image that had lingered, but one he couldn’t readily remember.

  Without saying a word, she entered the room and the door resealed. While still smiling, she produced a small hand-held data pad. A few keystrokes later, and a device resembling a helmet lowered from the ceiling. She took the seat across from James and watched as the helmet came to rest on the table between them. Still enamored with this woman, he felt he should know, James started to say, “Can you tell…” But before he could finish, she held up her hands for him to stop, and without thinking he did. She picked up the helmet and positioned it over her head, lowering it as if to show how to put it on. She then looked directly into James eyes nodded briefly and passed the helmet to him.

  It was obvious she wanted him to put it on, but his mind urged caution. What was it for? He asked himself. It looked like a large motorcycle helmet tethered to the ceiling with a thick umbilicus. He assumed it must be an electroencephalograph, and started to decline, but her smile dissolved his defiance.

  He slowly lowered it onto his head. Once in place, he decided maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. The helmet had an opaque faceplate, so he could no longer see the smiling woman but before he could remove it, a flashing light appeared on the inside of the faceplate. Noise began rumbling in his ears, and he lost control of his extremities. While his eyes were bombarded with light, his ears were offered a similar barrage of noise. He thought his nausea may return, and then lost all awareness, his body, his surroundings and even time.

  He had no idea how long he spent under the helmet. He was jolted back to awareness, when he felt the helmet being gently removed. He blinked his eyes several times to bring the room back into focus. He was still alone in the room with the woman and she was still smiling.

  “There you go. I hope that wasn’t too unpleasant” she said in a soothing voice.

  “No. It was a bit unnerving, but not too bad. Wait a minute,” he said as his confusion began to grow once again, “This doesn’t make any sense. I understand what you are saying, and I can talk to you, but we are not speaking English. My brain tells me the language is called Imperial. What is going on? Where am I?”

  “Patience, please. You are in London, but before I answer all your questions, please answer a few of mine. You were in an airport. Where are you from? Where are you going? And what is your name?”

  Customs questions, he thought, this is one damn strange system. “Very well ma’am, I will answer, but I expect the same from you, agreed?”

  Still smiling she said, “Yes. I will address your questions. Now please continue.”

  “Okay. My name is James Woodman. I’m from Michigan, there doesn’t seem to be an Imperial word that corresponds, but it’s in the middle of a place you call the Mississippian Province. I am an Assistant Professor of History at the University. I have come to England on vacation. I plan to head north to Northumberland and hike Hadrian’s Wall.”

  “A professor,” she said clearly impressed. “And what is Hadrian’s Wall?”

  James could only stare at her in bafflement for a few moments before he said, “Oh come on, this is England, everyone in the country knows about Hadrian’s Wall”. He continued starring and studying her expressionless face, and much to his surprise, it never changed or gave any hint of understanding, so he continued, “Hadrian’s wall was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Construction began in the year 122 AD.”

  “Emperor Hadrian?” She questioned.

  “Have they quit teaching world history in Britain? Hadrian succeeded the Emperor Trajan in the year 117 AD. Hadrian felt after the massive Imperial expansion under Trajan, the Empire was as big as it needed to be, so he began building walls at its outermost edges. He built an eighty-mile wall completely across the middle of England to keep out the northern barbarians. He was trying to protect England and the remainder of the Empire, but if you ask me, it was the beginning of the end because the Empire only got smaller after that until it collapsed around the fifth century”. My God, he thought, from the look on her face, she doesn’t comprehend anything I have said. “Doesn’t any of this sound familiar?”

  “No professor, it does not. You see there never was an Emperor Hadrian. Trajan had a nephew named Hadrian, but he never became Emperor. Trajan’s successor was his son, Trajan
the Great.”

  Chapter 2

  - Trust Me -

  “If that is supposed to be funny? It’s not.” James said. His confusion mixed with skepticism. How could she profess such an outright lie? He wondered. “I have been studying history all of my adult life and have never heard of Trajan the Great. Trajan was a good Emperor and is credited with many public works projects. He expanded the Empire to its’ largest area geographically, but there was only one Trajan, and I have never heard him referred to as Trajan the Great. His nephew Hadrian, whom he named his heir, succeeded him. Perhaps this is joke, or has the English school system finally deteriorated to the point where it is worse than the American system?”

  The woman held up her hands and said, “Easy professor. This may take some time, but I will try to explain.” Then she smiled and allowed James to calm before continuing. “You are in London, but it is not the London you know. How much do you know about physics?”

  The question caught James by surprise adding to the confusion. One minute she was talking about Emperors and the next physics. He had no idea what was going on, but he was certain those uniformed customs agents wouldn’t be too far away. He might as well talk to her; it was undoubtedly better than them. “Not much. I chose History because it didn’t require a lot of math, but I thought we were talking about Roman Emperors. What does physics have to do with it?”

  “Unfortunately, it is all about physics and mathematics. If you don’t have a strong background, it will make the explanation a bit more difficult, so I’ll try to keep it simple. Have you ever heard of parallel universes?”

  “I have heard the term.” He shrugged, “But I can’t give you an accurate description.”

  She nodded then turned and looked directly into his eyes as she spoke, “Well without getting into the mathematics necessary to explain the physics, let me just say that we, you and I, currently exist in only one of an infinite number of universes that intersect at this point in time. This is my universe. The one you came from is nearby, but different. It seems in yours, the Roman Empire collapsed. In this one it did not. The Empire has been going strong for twenty-seven hundred years.”

  At first, James started to laugh, this had to be a joke, but as he looked back into those brown eyes, he did not see any deception. He shook his head and broke eye contact, and the spell she cast and said, “I’m sorry I don’t believe you. Who are you and what is going on?”

  “I’m Doctor Cassandra Vespus. I am the chief physicist on this project. Our project involves evaluating nearby universes. Yours happened to be close enough that we were able to retrieve you without expending an inordinate amount of fuel. The physics won’t let us move through time, but we have found a method to move from one universe to another. The fact that you are here proves our theories were correct.”

  James found himself shaking his head, “Dr. Vespus … Cassandra, that is about the wildest tale I have ever heard, and I get treated to a lot from the undergraduate students. So, that’s enough. I give up. You had me going for a while. The way you made the wall vanish and reappear, that was cool, and I still haven’t figured out that helmet and the language you call Imperial. But if you will just tell me how to get to baggage claim, I will collect my pack and find the car I have waiting, and head of to Northumberland.”

  “Professor there is no baggage claim. You are in the Vespus Institute for Advanced Physics, London laboratory. The date is 13 Quintilis 2761. Professor, this is not a joke. I know it is hard to understand especially since you came from what appears to be a much less technically developed universe.”

  James once again stared intently at Cassandra. Nowhere in her comely face did he detect any hint of a lie. Studying her, he had to admit to himself, she appeared to be telling the truth, but such a preposterous story. It just wasn’t possible. He felt the urge to get up and run. Of course, he would need to figure out how to make the wall or door dematerialize, and that may present a challenge since there were no switches. If he couldn’t escape, what could he do? When his eyes once again focused on Cassandra, the battle in his mind slowed. It was replaced with a new thought. There was something about her. He knew it the first time he saw her.

  Was it just that she was physically attractive? He asked himself. The answer was no. There was something special about her. It was like he already knew her, or perhaps, it was just a premonition he would know her in the future. Now that is damn unscientific, he scolded himself, but even though his mind told him it was not rational, the feeling would not go away. Maybe the best thing to do was just play along. If it involves time spent with her, that is not such a bad deal, besides she seems to have concocted this story the Roman Empire still exists. It will be fun to see how badly she has screwed up history.

  Slowly, he began to nod his head, not necessarily to agree with her, but himself. “You said 13 Quintilis, how perfect. You are even using the Julian calendar. Of course, that would be consistent. If the Roman Empire never fell, the Gregorian calendar probably would not have been developed. But you said my being here proved your theories, I assume that makes me, your first?”

  “You are the first person we have moved between dimensions. That is correct.” She said still studying James’s face.

  “Great, I don’t think I have ever been first at anything.” He paused, but there was no reaction to his comment, “Then what you are telling me is that I’m your science project.” Still no reaction, he wondered if she even knew how to laugh?

  “Well that might be a bit crude, but you are part of an important scientific exploration being conducted on behalf of the Emperor.”

  “This is beginning to scare me.” James responded.

  “Don’t worry Dr. Woodman. No one means to harm you.” She said, in a voice that somehow seemed to engender trust.

  “Physical harm wasn’t the cause of my fear.”

  “Then what is scaring you?”

  “The fear Dr. Vespus,” he said, “Is because I know what I believe, and yet when I look at you, I’m convinced you believe what you are telling me is true. I don’t know how to reconcile this dilemma. But just for the sake of argument, I’ll assume what you said is true. Why me? Can I go home, or am I your prisoner?”

  Cassandra smiled, “That’s a good start Dr. Woodman.”

  “Please just call me James. Only students call me Dr. Woodman.”

  “Very well James. You were chosen mostly by accident, or if you place any faith in the eastern philosophies, fate. We can focus the trans-dimensional portal on only one specific spot. The spot is in the airport you were traveling through. We could only bring someone through standing near the door, and that just happened to be you.

  “Now as for what you really want to know. Are you a prisoner? No. But then again, I just can’t turn you lose here in London. You may be able to speak the language, but you are completely unprepared for the culture shock. Nothing is as you expect it to be. Our two cultures began diverging and developing along separate lines about nineteen hundred years ago. Things that happened in your past, things that shaped your culture, either happened at a different time in my world, or not at all.

  “And can you go home. We believe so, but not just yet. We must wait for two reasons. First it takes a tremendous amount of energy to open the trans-dimensional portal. We used almost all our antimatter fuels this morning opening it, and it will take some time to manufacture enough to open it again. And second there are an infinite number of universes all spinning around points in time. It will take a while before your universe is once again in range of our door. Energetically it must be close, or we cannot open it.”

  “I see,” James commented quietly. “And how long will it take to make the fuel and get the door lined up?”

  “A few weeks, maybe a month. The movement of the universes is wave like. The period for the two doors to lineup is about every three hundred and forty hours. As far as the fuel, well I’ll know more about the antimatter re-supply latter today.”

  “I’m still
not sure I’m buying any of this, but just for the sake of argument, if in two weeks or even four weeks you send me back, will I be sent back to the airport, and will it be the same day I left?”

  Cassandra leaned forward and took James hands in hers, “James this is not for the sake of argument, I’m afraid this is real.

  “When you return, you will be put back at the same place in the airport, but the date will reflect the time you have spent here. If we send you back in two weeks, you will materialize in the airport, two weeks from now. As I said earlier, we can move in an infinite number of dimensions, but not time. We cannot move forward or backward in time.”

  “Great! I can’t wait to get back and write the paper, ‘How I spent my summer vacation. All about a place where the Roman Empire never fell’.” James broke the grip Cassandra had on his hands, stood up, and began pacing. “This is all very damn scary, and I still don’t know if I can believe you. How can I possibly know if you are telling the truth, or this is some elaborate practical joke?”

  “James this is not a joke, it’s real. It will take some time for me to convince you, so please be patient.” The data pad Cassandra was holding began making a noise. “Please excuse me, I need to take this.” She moved her hand over the surface of the pad, “Yes Director.”

  A voice emanating from the data pad said, “Dr. Vespus, please see me in my office as soon as possible.”