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- Jun 13, 2006
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First, many thanks to dustinzgirl and chrispenycate for comments on the first part. Very much appreciated. I have taken comments and suggestions on board and am using them in the reworked version. Hopefully I've managed to get the formatting right when posting this, the conclusion to the story...
I blinked, then blinked again, “Time Machine,” I managed to utter.
“Of course,” he retorted, “What else could it be?” I bit back any possible answer I might have had to his question, wondering on some bizarre tangent whether by time machine the eccentric meant a clock. As I pondered this and the possibility that he might turn dangerous, Carter stalked across the room, reaching the darkened corner and pulled a cover from the device there. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. About as tall as a man, with six gleaming tracks interlinked so they formed the skeleton of a sphere. Each of the tracks had a solid looking grey item on it, apparently resting at different points of the device.
The old man gripped a standard plug and stuck it into a wall socket then turned and flicked a switch on his strange creation then stood back looking at it. For a moment nothing happened, and then a slight hum emanated from that corner of the room. All the lights flickered, I could almost feel the power drain as the machine drank electricity like water.
Together the bands began to move, rotating slowly, picking up speed as I watched. There was a crackle of something deep in the heart of the machine and the speed increased, until the silver lines were nothing but a blur, the only stationary points were apparently the grey rectangles. They seemed to hold position all opposite one another, strangely glowing as though they were capable of giving off light.
I stood dumbfounded wondering whether my legs would work if I wanted to run. I was half convinced that whatever it was, the professor’s little creation may well have exploded at any given time. It hummed and then the old man did something unbelievable. With a casual flick of his foot he pulled the plug from the socket…
And the machine kept going.
“There,” he breathed, “Now let’s get this show on the road!”
I watched him as he approached a chaotic looking console, part of the main machine, “What is that?” I breathed.
Carter looked back over his shoulder sniffing dismissively, “Oh that? That’s just the power source for the Time machine. You don’t thing the mains could keep that going do you?”
“That’s the power source?” I could feel my eyes widening.
“Of course.”
“But where is the power for that coming from?”
He shook his head, staring at me with something akin to frustration, “Well it powers itself. After it gets going of course, needs a jumpstart and then it’s off. A lot more power than I could get from a plug.” He began to press a few buttons on his makeshift console, while I tried to get my mind around what he was saying.
“Once it’s started it powers itself. Like a perpetual motion device?”
He nodded distractedly, “Exactly.”
Eyes wide it hit me hard. If what Carter was saying was true, then it was perhaps the greatest invention I had ever heard of, let alone seen. I did not know whether it was a safe source or not, but if it was the implications were incredible.
“That could make fossil fuels redundant. Have you tried marketing it?”
The old man looked up at me, annoyance written across his wrinkled face, “Why would I want to do that? I only created it to power the Time Machine.”
I felt my mouth drop open in dumbfounded shock, not understanding where the man was coming from, but I had no time to say anything else as with a self satisfied smirk he flicked a switch on the console and the whole room seemed to shiver. A dull hum that passed right through my teeth into my jaw seemed to come from everywhere.
The four dishes trembled and eight black blocks slowly rose from the floor, almost of their own accord.
It seemed impossible, but the heavy cuboids denied gravity and seemed to hang in the air. There was a crackled that came right from the centre of the room, and in between the floating blocks a shimmer, an out of focus blur appeared.
Carter pulled himself upright, running his fingers through his Einstein hair, and strode around to me, “There!” he breathed, “The Time Machine in action.”
My mind was disconnecting somehow, it was overwhelmed by all kinds of things that seemed to be filling it from countless different angles, listlessly I managed, “Does it work?”
He looked at me shaking his head, a stare that asked if I was as stupid as I looked, “How do I know? Am I mad enough to test it? Do you know the levels of energy being used there? The forces those magnets are kicking out?
“Can you remotely comprehend how much energy it takes to warp the very fabric of time? And you wonder if I have tested it?
“Pah! In theory that distortion is a gateway into the past, but god knows what would happen if someone went through it!”
Unable to take my eyes off the blur I let my mouth ramble on without the mind, “Why not throw a digital camera through on a cable, then drag it back.”
Carter blinked, “A digital camera you say?” He stroked his chin, “I had not thought of that, I must say! I was building a device to go through, but a camera is a great idea! Well done!”
With a great deal of enthusiasm and totally unexpectedly he thumped me on the back, his strength far greater than I would have imagined. It was not enough to hurt, but enough to push me forward. Only a few steps, but that was all I needed and with a high pitched yell I stumbled forward, right into the distortion.
“Whoops,” I heard and then…
Swirling greys and blacks. In a heartbeat I lived my life from beginning to end. It seemed to last forever, but could have been less than a second. It was everything and nothing. There was noise and it was silent. I could smell blood, light, sausage, egg and chips, baking cakes, oil and blood.
And then I was standing alone on an open expanse of grassland, a cooling breeze touching my skin. Straight ahead I could see water, an inland river or pond, could hear the cry of seagulls, smell the brine in the air, taste the salt on the breeze. But there were no houses. None at all.
Slowly I turned, there was nothing there but green. Stuart Road, everything on it, all buildings, structures, street lights, bridges and walls were missing. In the distance there was no city. Just like the districts of Stoke and Pennycomequick, Plymouth itself had vanished. All I could see was nature, open meadows, brambles, trees and water. Civilisation was missing.
For a moment I just stood there. Alone. Not breathing and then with a gasp I turned a full 360 degrees, wondering just what had happened and where the hell I was. It was then that I saw the slight distortion in the air and with a sure quickening of my already pounding heart I lunged, almost diving into it.
There was a static tingle, the sense of matter breaking apart and reforming around me. I was back in the basement of Stuart House, on my hands and knees looking up at a beaming madman who seemed ecstatic about what he had done.
“You old fool!” I yelled, “Do you realise what you did?”
He seemed uncaring. “My god my boy,” he breathed in awe, “Do you realise what you did?”
“Do I care?” I screeched staggering to my feet, ready to strangle Carter there and then, “You shoved me into an untested thing! You sent me reeling into something that could have bloody killed me!
“How irresponsible, how stupid, how insane are you!” My face must have been nearer to purple than red. I was ready to blow, veins were popping all over me. I could see the ones on the back of my hands almost glowing green.
He reached out and gripped my shoulders, looking me right in the eye, his own twinkling with wonder, “You just travelled in time!”
“I…” my voice remained far to high pitched. “I…” I could not even find the words, to convey just what it was that he had done to me, “I…” And then it hit home, I could still see the scene around me, still remember the smells and sounds.
“Bloody hell!” I gasped in a tone more astounded than infuriated, “I just travelled in time!”
I blinked, then blinked again, “Time Machine,” I managed to utter.
“Of course,” he retorted, “What else could it be?” I bit back any possible answer I might have had to his question, wondering on some bizarre tangent whether by time machine the eccentric meant a clock. As I pondered this and the possibility that he might turn dangerous, Carter stalked across the room, reaching the darkened corner and pulled a cover from the device there. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. About as tall as a man, with six gleaming tracks interlinked so they formed the skeleton of a sphere. Each of the tracks had a solid looking grey item on it, apparently resting at different points of the device.
The old man gripped a standard plug and stuck it into a wall socket then turned and flicked a switch on his strange creation then stood back looking at it. For a moment nothing happened, and then a slight hum emanated from that corner of the room. All the lights flickered, I could almost feel the power drain as the machine drank electricity like water.
Together the bands began to move, rotating slowly, picking up speed as I watched. There was a crackle of something deep in the heart of the machine and the speed increased, until the silver lines were nothing but a blur, the only stationary points were apparently the grey rectangles. They seemed to hold position all opposite one another, strangely glowing as though they were capable of giving off light.
I stood dumbfounded wondering whether my legs would work if I wanted to run. I was half convinced that whatever it was, the professor’s little creation may well have exploded at any given time. It hummed and then the old man did something unbelievable. With a casual flick of his foot he pulled the plug from the socket…
And the machine kept going.
“There,” he breathed, “Now let’s get this show on the road!”
I watched him as he approached a chaotic looking console, part of the main machine, “What is that?” I breathed.
Carter looked back over his shoulder sniffing dismissively, “Oh that? That’s just the power source for the Time machine. You don’t thing the mains could keep that going do you?”
“That’s the power source?” I could feel my eyes widening.
“Of course.”
“But where is the power for that coming from?”
He shook his head, staring at me with something akin to frustration, “Well it powers itself. After it gets going of course, needs a jumpstart and then it’s off. A lot more power than I could get from a plug.” He began to press a few buttons on his makeshift console, while I tried to get my mind around what he was saying.
“Once it’s started it powers itself. Like a perpetual motion device?”
He nodded distractedly, “Exactly.”
Eyes wide it hit me hard. If what Carter was saying was true, then it was perhaps the greatest invention I had ever heard of, let alone seen. I did not know whether it was a safe source or not, but if it was the implications were incredible.
“That could make fossil fuels redundant. Have you tried marketing it?”
The old man looked up at me, annoyance written across his wrinkled face, “Why would I want to do that? I only created it to power the Time Machine.”
I felt my mouth drop open in dumbfounded shock, not understanding where the man was coming from, but I had no time to say anything else as with a self satisfied smirk he flicked a switch on the console and the whole room seemed to shiver. A dull hum that passed right through my teeth into my jaw seemed to come from everywhere.
The four dishes trembled and eight black blocks slowly rose from the floor, almost of their own accord.
It seemed impossible, but the heavy cuboids denied gravity and seemed to hang in the air. There was a crackled that came right from the centre of the room, and in between the floating blocks a shimmer, an out of focus blur appeared.
Carter pulled himself upright, running his fingers through his Einstein hair, and strode around to me, “There!” he breathed, “The Time Machine in action.”
My mind was disconnecting somehow, it was overwhelmed by all kinds of things that seemed to be filling it from countless different angles, listlessly I managed, “Does it work?”
He looked at me shaking his head, a stare that asked if I was as stupid as I looked, “How do I know? Am I mad enough to test it? Do you know the levels of energy being used there? The forces those magnets are kicking out?
“Can you remotely comprehend how much energy it takes to warp the very fabric of time? And you wonder if I have tested it?
“Pah! In theory that distortion is a gateway into the past, but god knows what would happen if someone went through it!”
Unable to take my eyes off the blur I let my mouth ramble on without the mind, “Why not throw a digital camera through on a cable, then drag it back.”
Carter blinked, “A digital camera you say?” He stroked his chin, “I had not thought of that, I must say! I was building a device to go through, but a camera is a great idea! Well done!”
With a great deal of enthusiasm and totally unexpectedly he thumped me on the back, his strength far greater than I would have imagined. It was not enough to hurt, but enough to push me forward. Only a few steps, but that was all I needed and with a high pitched yell I stumbled forward, right into the distortion.
“Whoops,” I heard and then…
Swirling greys and blacks. In a heartbeat I lived my life from beginning to end. It seemed to last forever, but could have been less than a second. It was everything and nothing. There was noise and it was silent. I could smell blood, light, sausage, egg and chips, baking cakes, oil and blood.
And then I was standing alone on an open expanse of grassland, a cooling breeze touching my skin. Straight ahead I could see water, an inland river or pond, could hear the cry of seagulls, smell the brine in the air, taste the salt on the breeze. But there were no houses. None at all.
Slowly I turned, there was nothing there but green. Stuart Road, everything on it, all buildings, structures, street lights, bridges and walls were missing. In the distance there was no city. Just like the districts of Stoke and Pennycomequick, Plymouth itself had vanished. All I could see was nature, open meadows, brambles, trees and water. Civilisation was missing.
For a moment I just stood there. Alone. Not breathing and then with a gasp I turned a full 360 degrees, wondering just what had happened and where the hell I was. It was then that I saw the slight distortion in the air and with a sure quickening of my already pounding heart I lunged, almost diving into it.
There was a static tingle, the sense of matter breaking apart and reforming around me. I was back in the basement of Stuart House, on my hands and knees looking up at a beaming madman who seemed ecstatic about what he had done.
“You old fool!” I yelled, “Do you realise what you did?”
He seemed uncaring. “My god my boy,” he breathed in awe, “Do you realise what you did?”
“Do I care?” I screeched staggering to my feet, ready to strangle Carter there and then, “You shoved me into an untested thing! You sent me reeling into something that could have bloody killed me!
“How irresponsible, how stupid, how insane are you!” My face must have been nearer to purple than red. I was ready to blow, veins were popping all over me. I could see the ones on the back of my hands almost glowing green.
He reached out and gripped my shoulders, looking me right in the eye, his own twinkling with wonder, “You just travelled in time!”
“I…” my voice remained far to high pitched. “I…” I could not even find the words, to convey just what it was that he had done to me, “I…” And then it hit home, I could still see the scene around me, still remember the smells and sounds.
“Bloody hell!” I gasped in a tone more astounded than infuriated, “I just travelled in time!”
