TEMPUS CHAPTER FOUR
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by
JOHN MASEFIELD
Within a moment of a thought a shape seemed to materialize in front of him, ten feet long and three feet high and four feet wide. The ship was smoothly tapered in every direction. It had no real colour it seemed almost transparent.
“The ability to cloak solves many problems travelling,” said Watcher.
“Like a Romulan warbird? How does it work?” Cristian’s inner geek was shining through.
“Damn it, Jim, I’m a watch, not an engineer?” He answered in a perfect rendition of Deforest Kelly’s voice.
He thought back to the weekly event at home during the 1960s, watching Star Trek with his brother and his father on the couch.
“Thanks, Bones. This is a lot to take in, what can I do with all of this?”
“That is up to you. Whatever you do, we have to avoid the Elders.”
“Is there an alternative Watcher?”
“Two, we never leave the cave. We fight them.”
“I am not great at hiding, are you recruiting?”
“No, I will do as you ask. Ezra did not fight the Elders.”
“What about paradoxes and changing timelines, sleeping with my own great-grandmother when she was twenty. Killing Hitler when he was a boy and all that.”
“There is an infinite number of possible time-spaces out there. A change is only a change. Kill Hitler and someone else could take his place. Maybe worse maybe better.
“You are talking about multiverses, stop to pet Schrödinger’s cat and miss getting squashed by a tree that fell over ten feet from you. Don’t pet the cat and die. Every decision nets a new multiverse.”
“Exactly grasshopper, none of those multiverses are wrong just different. I thought it was the cat that died and lived though?” Said the watch.
Immediately he thought of his family could he get them back, was it possible? Could he eliminate her from the picture and keep the children. Could he stop her from cheating and stay together. Why would he do that, she was who she was and that wouldn’t change.
No, he decided that he couldn’t take the pain again if it didn’t work out. He could find and help his children from the sidelines.
“Watcher I do not want to change anything in my direct past, ever.”
Then he thought about his 69 Camaro for a moment, his mother borrowed it one night and a driver with bad timing totalled it almost killing her. Maybe we could just save the Camaro he thought. No there would be another Camaro.
“Understood.”
“Let’s pick up the cats.” An opening appeared on the top of the ship. He looked inside it looked empty.
The interface showed him what to do. He climbed in, lying down. Wide enough for a passenger. The doors shut without seam or sound. He could now see everything around him all at once. He could see through the walls of the ship. He quickly got used to it. He thought himself at his house. Behind the garage, there was a spot that the neighbours could not see into. Things might get a little fucked up if he suddenly appeared out of thin air, he might get a double chrome stabbing.
In seconds he was there, with no feeling of movement. The door opened and he walked over to the house and looked around. He thought it might be the last time he would see it.
He loaded some clothes, a picture of his children and some trinkets that belonged to them into his old duffel bag. He had that bag since his days in the Navy. He grabbed some cat food, the calico and tabby and loaded them into a small cat cage for the voyage.
“What do I do with my house?”
“Nothing today Cristian.”
“I need to know more about his stuff,” He thought to himself.
As the ship was ascending he felt a strange surge of thoughts entering his mind.
“What the fuck was that?”
“The education you asked for Cristian.”
For now, he trusted what the Watcher told him. Maybe it was because of the new education. He had calculated a million variables, none that included any subterfuge by a pocket watch.
Back at the cave, he did feel smarter, more alive. He knew Calculus. He thought in different languages. He knew Jeet Kune Do.
In a perfect Bruce Lee dragon stance with biceps flexed, he stretched his neck muscle left and then right until it cracked. Imitating a scene from a movie, he made a come here gesture at unseen opponents. After a moment he made a flying double kick at thin air, finishing off two invisible opponents ending with a quick punch from his right then left dropping the other two.
Music, Art past and present, it was known to him. He knew that Moreau had painted one of his favourite paintings, St George fighting a dragon. The very same scene is depicted on the back of the watch.
He knew a ton of stuff. The information seemed to be stored differently. He could retrieve information easily and quickly. It was better than memories, more precise.
“Are there any costs involved, shorter life, altered personality or any health problems?”
“No different from going to school.”
“Huh, going to school was a traumatic event for some. Did Ezra do this Watcher?”
“No, he refused it. He wasn’t going to let a machine make him smarter. He thought he was smart enough.”
“Knowing what I know about that old train robber, maybe he should have. Did he time travel?”
“Nope didn’t like small spaces.”
After unloading the cats and making sure they had food and water. He realized that he had forgotten cat litter and a box.
“I need to go to the store. I am going to take the Bagger.”
Bandana and Beanie in hand, he sat on his bike patted the tank affectionately and backed it up and turned it around.
Sitting on 600 pounds of metal, he pushed it forward until he cleared the cave, into neutral, fuel on, pulled out the choke and hit the starter button he had hidden under the tank and it roared to life.
After he warmed up the engine, he cracked the throttle just to hear the pipes. The straight pipes roared out a warning to all that were near, Big twin coming through.
Soon he was pulling up to the Food Store Parking lot. He parked the bike locked the forks and left the beanie on the seat.
On the way out, he was hauling a bag of litter in a plastic box. There were a few cans of beans thrown in for good measure. He pulled a couple of black bungees and a cargo net out of one of the saddlebags and strapped everything down to the luggage rack. The extra seat had not been mounted for years.
He was just about to get on the bike when he heard a couple of voices from behind him.
“Look at the tough biker all alone.”
“Where’s your gang asshole?” said one of the others.
He turned around to find five young punks looking to cause a problem. One of them tried to kick the bike over. He managed to grab a foot and throw him onto his back on the pavement before his feet touched the bike.
“Is there any way we can end this peaceably Watcher?” He thought to the watch.
“I may have a solution Cristian.”
A series of images played in his head. “Really, can you do that?”
“Yes.”
Cristian turned and faced his would-be attackers.
“Never ever, touch a man’s ride,” he said to the five.
“What are you going to do about it asshole?” said the biggest one.
Cristian didn’t like being called that word and for a moment thought about kicking the crap out of the punks Bruce Lee style.
Then he remembered a quote from somewhere ”It’s one thing to have the power and another to use it.”
Man, he hated bullies, especially ones that needed to gang up on people, they were lower on the food chain than people that talked at movies.
“I plan to scare the piss out of you so you will never bother another citizen again.”
“How are you going to do that fucker?” The biggest one of the five was talking while moving forward. He was about to strike.
“Watcher ready?”
“Boo,” Cristian said calmly. Suddenly piss started pouring out of all five of them.
“It seems you forgot your diaper junior. Now go home and never bother anyone again or I will make that a permanent problem. Tell anyone and your nuts will explode. DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND?”
“Yes sir sorry sir,” said the big one.
Scared, confused and wet they ran off as fast as they could, If they came in a car they left it.
“Nice work Watcher some kind of magic I suppose.” He was trying hard not to laugh.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
“I know that quote Clarke right.”
“Correct Cristian.”
“Back to da Bat cave Watcher.”
“Don’t you mean cat cave?”
“Funny.” He went through the startup ritual as he had thousands of times, he rolled the throttle on and headed for his new home.
He pulled in the clutch lever and revved the bike up a few times as he passed five scared wet punks still running, now scattering in different directions.
When he arrived back at the cave, the cats were already settled in and asleep on the bed. That looked like a good idea to him. He carefully crawled in behind the cats and closed his eyes. Just seconds later it seemed, he heard a voice in his head.
“Cristian five hours have passed since we arrived back here in the cave.”
“What, no I just got to sleep” he rubbed the butterfly poop and some leftover sand out of his eyes and looked around. Thinking about his kids again, he remembered what he told his kids. He told them that while they slept, dream butterflies came to help them have good dreams. The butterfly poop was so they would know that they had been there.
This wasn’t a dream. “Shit Watcher it’s still dark outside.”
“The interface tells me that you have rested an adequate amount.”
“Okay, okay I get it,” He said in his outside voice. “What should we do today Watcher?”
“I would suggest your finances need improvement. We could look at that first.”
“Good plan Stan, what is the best way, Lotteries, gambling, collectibles, stock certificates, gold? No train robberies Watcher.”
“You already have a railway bond. Gold dust and some cash in the box. Real Estate and time travel, are always a winner. Maybe we could start with some local Real estate.”
“Let’s think a little bigger. Downtown Vancouver, where I grew up, but nowhere the government past might expropriate.”
“I would suggest registering a company in the past and hiring trustworthy employees to administer it for you. I can help with that. I can detect changes in body temperature, heart rate and body language. I can rule out the liars and thieves. You can inherit the company and the land in the present. We will have to invent reasons for your long absences and fake a few deaths along the way” said Watcher.
“I could have used you at my wedding, maybe saved me some grief. Nah, I was young, she was evil, but she had great legs, nothing would have changed.”
“We will have to create a name for you and a name for the company. There is a legal firm there that has survived since Vancouver was incorporated we can use them.”
“Now I am guessing we have homework to do.”
“I have already done that Cristian. We have to arrive after the great fire and before the local board of trade make changes to the laws so that only settlers could buy land in Vancouver. It was made to keep out competing speculators.”
“Like us.”
He opened the closet and found a pair of pants, a shirt, shoes, and socks. He was surprised they weren’t musty. This stuff wasn’t going to fit his 6-foot 1-inch 192-pound frame. The owner of these clothes was small and short. The shoes were about three sizes too small.
“The mechanical can create clothes that can fit in a few hours. In the next room, there are materials and a workshop for this purpose.”
“Better add a money belt.”
M1 (his name for the mechanical short for me one) disappeared into the next room. Inside the closet, he found a large leather billfold with a thick wad of paper money. He pulled out a ten-dollar bill.
The print on the note said:
The Bank of British North America. In the centre was a likeness of Queen Victoria. On the left a familiar picture of St George on his horse about to lance a dragon. What was with the dragons? On the right two fishermen, standing beside a plaque with two fish on it.
He could hardly make out the Latin written underneath.
Vis Anita Fortiori United strength is stronger. At the bottom of the note, he noticed British American Note Co. Ottawa.
“How much is in here?”
“$2044 add the $500 in the box and we have some seed money.”
“That antique money must be worth a small fortune here. I guess it would be a small fortune to buy some more to take back. I know someone who can sell the railway bonds and the gold dust for us. We can do that now while M1 does the work.”
In town, he went to the pawnshop, and around the back in his office was Jimmy the owner. He had sold many of his assets here trying to survive.
“Cristian, hey man what’s shaking?”
“I found this box digging under my house. I need to move it.”
Jimmy opened the box and spread the contents over his oak desk. Pawnshop Jimmy had a shitty poker face he couldn’t hide his excitement. The railway bond looked new. It was worth a lot of money.
“Before you low ball me I know exactly what these are worth. I am looking for some old cash all late 1800 Canadian, nothing newer than 1889.”
“Tall order, but I do know a local collector who has a good supply. I am sure he will want this bond.”
“Call him.”
Within an hour exchanges were made including the tin box. Only once was a question raised. Jimmy asked, “you didn’t say why you needed this.”
“You are right I didn’t” was his reply. Jimmy knew when to shut up.
The morning had netted another $5000 in pre-1889 cash.
A quick stop for fuel and a hundred shifts later they were back at the cave.
M1 had the clothes hung up in the closet ready to go; a complete suit in his size. He put on the suit and he noticed that the boots fit perfectly.
“In the inside jacket pocket, there are documents you will need for the past all made on period paper. There is a shopping list for some materials I need to replace as well.”
“Thanks, M1, excellent job on the suit.”
After putting on the suit and packing the wallet and money belt with his cash. He noticed a five-barrel handgun and some tiny .22 calibre bullets at the back of the shelf.
The action and the barrels were clean and functional. The gun was manufactured by E. Remington and Sons, Ilion NY. It had been engraved and had Ivory Handle grips. He guessed it was worth a small fortune in today’s market.
He loaded the five barrels and dropped the small handgun gun and the remaining shells into the side pocket of his coat. This was a gentleman’s gun you had to be close up and personal to do any damage with this. Better than nothing. He was no stranger to guns. He had earned his marksman designation in the Navy, handguns, machine guns and all rifles.
Petting the cats and giving their cheeks a little rub, he knew it was time to go.
“M1 Take care of my cats, the Bagger, and yourself.”
“Will do Cristian.”
It was still weird having a talk with a replica of yourself. The voice didn’t seem right. He made up his mind that was the way other people heard his voice.
“Watcher let’s rock.” With that, he took off his jacket and laid it down at the back of the ship. He got into position and in a few moments, he could see the Earth behind him.
“When and where to Watcher?”
“Near the centre of the galaxy and beyond. We have to travel through a rotating black hole.”
“YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT TAKING US THROUGH A KERR HOLE.” He wondered how did he know it was a Kerr hole? “Is this going to hurt Watcher?”
“Your education although not complete also contained some science. No Cristian You will be unconscious for that part of the trip. Better that way. I will guide the ship through and exit through a white hole at the right coordinates and bring us back to Earth at its location in 1889.”
“I thought travel through a Kerr hole was impossible?”
“So were men flying in machines before the Wright Brothers and a few others.”
“I see. Who started all this?”
“The Makers, you can find many of their descendants in the past. One of them was Nikola Tesla. One of my Keepers.”
“Name dropper. Tesla came from the future. That explains a lot. What about his birth and early life?”
“He fled from the future. His birth in the past was a fabrication. The stories about his childhood were planted. He thought humanity needed a jump start.”
“Ba dump bump. What a comedian you are becoming. How many others are out there Watcher?”
“Many, I am sure we will meet some of them along the way.”
“How long will this trip……”
He felt himself drifting off.