Timeshock - I Want My Life Back by Timothy Michael Lewis Page B
Authors: Timothy Michael Lewis
Tags: TIme Travel Thriller
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quite a lot.”
“No – just one thing. The one thing I was intending to do. It just didn't work out as I expected.”
“I can imagine. Why did I send you back and not myself?” questioned Nigel.
“You did some small experiments – but I begged you to send me back – I wanted to make sure my sister didn't die in a pointless car accident. You gave in to my begging and sent me back.”
“So did you save her?” asked Nigel.
“Yes, from that car accident. Sadly though what I failed to realise was that she was just a dreadful driver. When I came back I discovered I had died in a car with her 6 months later. By stopping her driving the car that day, I condemned myself to death.” After saying this, Raymond was close to tears.
“What do you want to do if you go back now? Let your sister die?”
“No – I don't know – stop her from ever driving somehow.”
“Well it's a bit of a moot point as I can't imagine how I could fix this mess – I've no idea how it is supposed to work.” Nigel surveyed the broken contraption as he spoke. “What DID it look like?”
Raymond pointed and explained roughly what it used to look like. He also helpfully pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It had Nigel's handwriting on it and a drawing of the machine.
“You wrote me this to explain how it works – something about stopping the thing inside falling through time. You made the analogy of falling on a bed and then having a large helium balloon tied to your back – all in the dimension of time, of course.”
“That Nigel sounds like he had an interesting turn of phrase. Well, as that is my handwriting, either you are a master forger or you really have met me before.”
“You weren't married in the other reality – very much more the academic,” mused Raymond.
Reading the text and analysing the drawing, Nigel began to understand how the machine worked. He suddenly realised that he could fix it. But bad thoughts came into his mind. If he let Raymond go back in time then who knows what other damage he could do.
Nigel was happy with this time-line – what was the use in saving Natalie and the kids if by some chance Raymond accidentally erased them from history. But if he didn't fix the machine, how could he hope to see Natalie and the kids again? He needed a plan.
Chapter 2
Raymond seemed less scary to Nigel now. He still couldn't think of a way to stop him going back in time and yet keep Natalie and the kids safe. Could he let him go back and take his chances? Perhaps Raymond would jump into a different time-line again and this one would stay the same? Would he take that chance?
Nigel guessed that if he just reconnected the battery and re-attached the base of the unit then it might well work. But he tried to still appear puzzled to Raymond. He needed an idea. And he needed one quickly.
In the midst of his stalling, a simple idea occurred to Nigel – sabotage the machine to strand Raymond in the past – say the Jurassic period. Then he rejected that idea – if Raymond was in the past, however far back, he could still potentially change the current time-line. Nigel despaired.
Then it came to him – what about the future? The machine could work either way – as how had Raymond travelled back from the past? That worked – Raymond could do no harm in the future – he could live out the rest of his life and learn to forget about what he had done. But how far in the future? Nigel didn't want an irate Raymond attacking him in his 80s – so it needed to be much more than 50 years. Nigel decided – 100 years in the future – that would do.
Subtly Nigel sabotaged the machine to make it push Raymond 100 years in the future and then fail.
“I am close to fixing the machine – but I need to know where my family are before I complete it,” stated Nigel as confidently as he could
“No – just one thing. The one thing I was intending to do. It just didn't work out as I expected.”
“I can imagine. Why did I send you back and not myself?” questioned Nigel.
“You did some small experiments – but I begged you to send me back – I wanted to make sure my sister didn't die in a pointless car accident. You gave in to my begging and sent me back.”
“So did you save her?” asked Nigel.
“Yes, from that car accident. Sadly though what I failed to realise was that she was just a dreadful driver. When I came back I discovered I had died in a car with her 6 months later. By stopping her driving the car that day, I condemned myself to death.” After saying this, Raymond was close to tears.
“What do you want to do if you go back now? Let your sister die?”
“No – I don't know – stop her from ever driving somehow.”
“Well it's a bit of a moot point as I can't imagine how I could fix this mess – I've no idea how it is supposed to work.” Nigel surveyed the broken contraption as he spoke. “What DID it look like?”
Raymond pointed and explained roughly what it used to look like. He also helpfully pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It had Nigel's handwriting on it and a drawing of the machine.
“You wrote me this to explain how it works – something about stopping the thing inside falling through time. You made the analogy of falling on a bed and then having a large helium balloon tied to your back – all in the dimension of time, of course.”
“That Nigel sounds like he had an interesting turn of phrase. Well, as that is my handwriting, either you are a master forger or you really have met me before.”
“You weren't married in the other reality – very much more the academic,” mused Raymond.
Reading the text and analysing the drawing, Nigel began to understand how the machine worked. He suddenly realised that he could fix it. But bad thoughts came into his mind. If he let Raymond go back in time then who knows what other damage he could do.
Nigel was happy with this time-line – what was the use in saving Natalie and the kids if by some chance Raymond accidentally erased them from history. But if he didn't fix the machine, how could he hope to see Natalie and the kids again? He needed a plan.
Chapter 2
Raymond seemed less scary to Nigel now. He still couldn't think of a way to stop him going back in time and yet keep Natalie and the kids safe. Could he let him go back and take his chances? Perhaps Raymond would jump into a different time-line again and this one would stay the same? Would he take that chance?
Nigel guessed that if he just reconnected the battery and re-attached the base of the unit then it might well work. But he tried to still appear puzzled to Raymond. He needed an idea. And he needed one quickly.
In the midst of his stalling, a simple idea occurred to Nigel – sabotage the machine to strand Raymond in the past – say the Jurassic period. Then he rejected that idea – if Raymond was in the past, however far back, he could still potentially change the current time-line. Nigel despaired.
Then it came to him – what about the future? The machine could work either way – as how had Raymond travelled back from the past? That worked – Raymond could do no harm in the future – he could live out the rest of his life and learn to forget about what he had done. But how far in the future? Nigel didn't want an irate Raymond attacking him in his 80s – so it needed to be much more than 50 years. Nigel decided – 100 years in the future – that would do.
Subtly Nigel sabotaged the machine to make it push Raymond 100 years in the future and then fail.
“I am close to fixing the machine – but I need to know where my family are before I complete it,” stated Nigel as confidently as he could
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