A Single Moment in Time, Part III

     This is the final part of the three-part story concerning Jordan's adventures with time-travel.  I hope you enjoyed the story and enjoy the conclusion.  Feedback is appreciated.

     And here he was again, working sleepless nights time after time over the damned machine. Bolting it together, Jordan knew how it all went together, for he had done this before. Just not in this timeline.

As he reconstructed the machine, he had been given plenty of time to reflect on what had happened. To remember the new timeline he created. The brief victory... followed by the nightmare.

      After Jordan had prevented the accident from happening, Kayla had made a major breakthrough. She had managed to stabilize the power source, making it possible for hand held lasers to be used in surgery. The effect on the medical community was profound – they cut cleaner and more precise than traditional scalpels, the power could be modified, and they because they didn't need to be thrown away, there was less bio-hazardous waste coming out of hospitals.

      For a brief time, things were great. Jordan remembered spending time with Kayla as a friend, as she basked in her success. They became closer, much closer than they were in the previous time line. Kayla became not just Jordan's friend but his lover as well. He found himself occasionally wondering if this would have happened in the original time line, given the chance and the time, but only occasionally. He was swept away in the moment, the reality. He had beaten time.

      Then disturbing things started to happen. The military started to get involved in Kayla's research. It turned out that her discovery also made laser weapons more feasible than they had ever been before. The new power cells made putting enough power into laser burst feasible enough that they could be carried by the common soldier, much as rifles were. The main advantage was that they didn't use up ammunition like traditional weapons.

      Kayla had never felt comfortable with this. She refused several offers by the government to have her help them weaponize the new technology. Funding for her research started to grow thin. Jordan remembered in particular a time she came home.

      “How was work today?”

      Kayla hung up her coat, got a glass of water, and sat down, setting the water down on the table with a thud. “They won't leave me alone, Jordan.”

      “The government again?”

      She nodded. “They came to my lab again, demanding that I help them.”

      Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Demanding?”

      “They basically told me to either help them or they would seize the research.” She looked down at the glass.

      “What are you going to do?” Jordan's voice was tinged with concern.

      She looked up at him. “Don't worry about it. I don't want you getting mixed up in this. I'll take care of it.” She smiled. “Now, you promised to make me dinner tonight. What's on the menu?”

The next day, Jordan rushed to the hospital. There had been an accident, a hit-and-run. He cried like he had never cried before. Why was fate so cruel?

      Jordan continued to calibrate the instruments. This machine was identical to the one that he had created in the original time line. He was lucky to have a photographic memory – that made putting it together a relatively simple task.

      Still, he was bothered. He had set out to change the future, and he had, but it had not changed in the way he had wanted it to. Perhaps, he thought, that was just the nature of time. No matter how hard you pushed, fate pushed back. He didn't want to believe it, but it was in his mind.

      Regardless, he could not go back. He tightened more of the bolts on this machine. He had been the person to change the past to begin with, and he had created a worse future – not just for himself, but for those around him. Laser weapons had fallen into the hands of corrupt officials and criminals. The world had grown darker.

      No, he reflected, I can't go back. He had gone too far to begin with. He tightened the last bolt on the machine and double-checked his settings. Then he entered the machine.

      As he put the headphones on, a million things went through his head. When would the madness stop? How many times would he do this? And in the end, was it all for naught? But all the same, Jordan wouldn't – no couldn't rest until he set the world right.

      He inputted the temporal coordinates, took a deep breath, and hit the button that sent his memory back. As the numbers flashed and the world rearranged itself, he had enough time to wonder if this quest would take his soul. Then he passed out.

The End

A Single Moment in Time, Part II

     This is the second part of a three part story on time travel.    

     “Jordan, are you OK?”

     Jordan stared at Kayla's face. “What day is it, Kayla?”

     Kayla stared. “It's Thursday. The 11^th of February. You must have hit your head pretty hard when you blacked out. Should I call a medic?”

     “No!” Jordan exclaimed. “No,” more calmly this time. “I'm fine. Just a little short on sleep.”

     "Well OK,” said Kayla.

     As this conversation was happening, Jordan remembered what had happened to her. Or rather, what would happen to her in a few minutes.

     Kayla Lanceret was a brilliant scientist and physicist in her own right. A national leader in laser development, she wanted to build a world where lasers were more useful and practical. The only problem was that lasers were either underpowered or bulky. A small laser scalpel, for example, was science fiction at this point. So she set about the task of creating a battery for lasers that could store enough power in a small enough package to be useful for more than just laser pointers.

     For a while, the research had gone fairly well, until February 11^th, 2011. Jordan and Kayla shared some common lab space, and Jordan had agreed to help Kayla with an experiment using a high-density battery pack. He had been heading to get some coffees for the two of them when he heard a huge explosion coming from the direction of the lab.

     The subsequent investigation had determined that the contents in the high-density batteries were under huge pressure.  That was per design, but the battery container had sprung a small leak. The spark was suspected to come from a short circuit, and when the it sparked, it had set the gasses off, causing a huge explosion that took Kayla Lanceret's life.

     Jordan knew what he had to do. “I don't know about you, but I could use some coffee,” Kayla said. “I'm kind of busy with this – could you grab it for me?”

     Jordan shook his head. “Sorry Kayla, I didn't bring any cash with me.” That was a lie of course, but for the better.

     She shook her head. “When will the campus cafe start accepting credit cards? I have cash, I'll go get some. Just wait here and don't touch anything.” She exited the lab and strode down the hallway, her footsteps echoing.

     Jordan waited until she was some distance down before entering the room that contained the battery and the laser. He looked very closely at the battery, and sniffed. It was definitely leaking some of the chemicals – he could smell it. He opened up the outer casing and found the problem – one of the wires was ready to short circuit.  Someone hadn't down their job properly.

     Jordan looked at his watch. He could worry about the who later – right now he needed to fix the damn thing.

     There was a knock at the door. Kayla was staring at him, arms folded. Jordan exited.

     “What are you doing in there?”

     Jordan sighed. “Just... do me a favor and take a look at the battery. I think it's gonna short-circuit if you try that.”

     Kayla entered the battery room. “Holy crap! Who designed it with this wire? It can't possibly stand the voltage!” She smelled the air. “And it's leaking?” She hit the emergency fan system, evacuating the noxious and potentially explosive substances.

     She exited the room, closed the metal door tight, and locked it. “Jordan – you just saved my behind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call the idiots who manufactured this battery cell. It should NOT be leaking like that.” She got on her phone and started calling.

     In that moment, Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. He had won.

     This story isn't over yet.  I'll have Part III, the conclusion, up soon.

A Single Moment in Time, Part I.

     This is the first part of a three-part story.  It deals with time travel, and the power to redo the past.  I won't say more, but please enjoy the first part of the story.
  
     In some respects, people are selfish at heart.  At least that's what Jordan saw.  No matter what happened to them, the people around them, they seemed to be able to adapt.  To adjust to their environment, to live without her.  Her friends had made the adjustment, her family, even her parents.  But somehow, Jordan couldn't make the adjustment to life without her.
      He continued to focus on those thoughts, the what-ifs, as he checked the last few lines of code, the last few bolts.  Jordan Hale was a professor at the local university.  Tall and skinny, with his black hair buzzed down to a half inch, intense brown eyes, his white lab coat and blue jeans coated in grease and dirt - he didn't look like the academic type, but his theories on time and space had brought him the respect of his colleagues, a following all his own, and success.  However, they hadn't stopped him from feeling that life without Kayla was meaningless and empty.
     These were not new feelings.  They had been building up for the past three and half years.  At first, they had distracted him from his work on string theory and it's effect on timelines.  But then, he became obsessed with new timelines.  Alternate timelines, alternate worlds.  His colleagues had slowly seen him withdraw from the rest of the university - only coming out to teach classes, locked in his lab the rest of the time.  They couldn't understand.  They didn't have the brilliance to understand.
     Jordan finished ratcheting the final bolt and took a moment to look at the finished product.  He had spent the better part of three years developing this machine.  Building it had been surprisingly simple enough, considering.  It didn't look like much - a computer tied into a small radio dish in what looked like a large, fancy refrigerator with buttons and and digital display, and headphones on the inside.  But with this, Jordan knew he could do it.  He could save Kayla.
     He checked his watch.  10:47 PM, August 29th, 2014.  Then he got to work inputting the temporal coordinates.  Ten minutes before would give him plenty of time.  He climbed inside the unit, closed the door, and put the headphones on.
     As his hand wandered towards the red button, one memory went through his head - Kayla, just after the accident, lying on the floor of her lab, the smell of smoke in the room.  "I'm sorry.  Looks like it's my time to go."
     Jordan hit the button.  For what could have been a split second or an eternity the world was a blur of numbers.  Then he passed out.

     "Jordan?  Jordan, are you OK?"
      His head flew up from the table, his eyes wide open.  He stared at his watch in disbelief.  1:32 PM, February 11th, 2011.
     "Jordan, are you OK?".  Kayla's concerned face brought him back to the present.  Or rather, the past.

     To be continued in Part II.

A quick hello before I get started.

     Greetings to all.  My name is Brian Boone.  I am a 26-year who spends his days working at a factory, running 5ks, 10ks, and other races, driving for fun, and generally messes about with my life.  I have fun doing this.
     Those of you who know me may or may not also know that I have a creative side, particularly in writing.   I have participated in NaNoWriMo three times and completed it once.  On occasion, I will dabble in poetry and songwriting.  And more than anything, I like a good story.  I like to read a good story, listen to a good story, and write a good story.
      That is what this blog is for - to write a few good short stories.  To start with, I'll be using prompts I found on the internet, but if anything strikes me or if anyone has any suggestions, I'm willing to explore.  I hope you enjoy these short stories.  Have a great day,
   
     Brian Boone