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