CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lying there, still thinking I was asleep, I could hear a voice speaking to me: "Can you hear me? Please, you must wake up now. Can you hear me?" I felt my body being shaken violently, followed by the same words. Soon I was able to open my eyes. I found myself lying on one of the worktables in the laboratory. Dr Eisner was looking over me with worried eyes.

"He's awakening! Quick, help me to sit him up!"

Then I felt several pairs of hands lifting my back from the table and turning me so that my legs hung over the side. Then a hand put something that smelled very horrible under my nose. I jumped back from it and found myself suddenly much more clear-headed.

"We need your help, man," Eisner said to me hurriedly. "The people who stole your machine were caught trying to escape back to Antusia by boat. However, seeing that they were going to be arrested, they destroyed your machine just as we surrounded them."

My heart felt like it would stop beating from sadness. I was going to have to stay in this world and watch it die before my eyes. I was never going to see my beloved laboratory or any of you ever again. Why had I stopped here? Eisner said I could not have returned home even if I had tried, but was that really true?

"Come on, man! There is still hope to save us!" Eisner shouted.

"No," I said. "I've seen the future. I know what will happen to your world. You say that I had no choice, that I had to stop here, but I tell you that I stopped here on my own. I stopped here because it was the very end of modern humanity. I'm afraid that all of this must soon come to an end."

"We are aware of all that. Things have already started to get worse for us here. That is why we need you to finish building our time machine. Please, man. Help us!"

I felt that I really had no choice. If I ever wanted to return to our time, I would have to build this machine. I knew that they would first want to use it themselves to carry out their plan. Of course, there was the risk that whoever used the machine might be killed during his mission or somehow fail to return. However, I decided that these were chances I would simply have to take. I agreed to finish the machine.

Looking more closely at their machine, I realized that they were not just missing a few parts, but they had actually made many mistakes in its construction. Several connections were made using different materials from my own. I made a list of the problems and the new materials I would require and gave it to Eisner. Within a few hours everything I needed was laid before me on the laboratory worktable.

Several assistants were assigned to me and I never once had to lift a finger. I simply told the men what to do. They were excellent workers and they used tools I had never seen before, but wished I had, for I could not believe the speed with which they worked. They did, in just eight hours, what took me eight days to do.

By evening the machine was finished. Eisner and I looked it over very carefully. He seemed very satisfied with the work, but still quite nervous. A question then came to me: Who would operate the machine? Traveling through time was a dangerous task. Someone would need to be familiar enough with how to operate the machine not to make any stupid mistakes that might prevent him from completing his mission. I then brought the issue up to Eisner.

"Well, it seems we have no choice but to send two people on the mission. One person will simply operate the machine, while the other carries out the plan."

"Do you mean to use me?" I asked.

"You are the only experienced time traveler that I know. All that we ask you to do is take our man ninety-four years back in time. Then, once he has completed his mission, bring him back to us and you can return home."

"I suppose that I have no choice, really. Well, who, may I ask, will be my travel companion?"

At this, Eisner smiled and said, "Me."

"And how do you plan to prevent the birth of the Antusian leader?" I asked.

"That, I'm afraid, is information I cannot share with you at this time. Besides, it is hardly any concern of yours."

"It is my concern if it means being involved in a murder," I replied.

"It will be nothing more than a simple matter of poison."

"As I said, murder."

"No, it isn't a poison designed to kill, but rather to make a woman unable to have children. Now, I'm sorry, but I cannot give you any further details. It is time for us to go."

I felt uncomfortable with the mission. I still had many questions, but Eisner did not seem to want to hear them. It frightened me a little, the idea of trying to change history. If this terrible Antusian leader were never born, who might replace him as leader? Maybe someone much worse. Surely, they had thought about this? Either their plan was very poorly developed, or there were many other missions that I had not been told about. I decided that I should not trust everything this Dr Eisner was telling me.

Twenty minutes later, several policemen entered the laboratory carrying two small bags.

"What are these for?" I asked.

"Just some clothing and medical supplies for us in case we are hurt during the mission," answered Eisner. "Here are some newer clothes for you to wear. Put them on now, for we'll be leaving as soon as you're ready."

"I must warn you, doctor, it is dangerous for us to travel in the machine from this laboratory. Was this building here ninety-four years ago?"

"No, it wasn't, actually," he answered.

"Then this machine must be moved to the ground floor. If we were to travel here, we would fall from the sky once we came to a stop, and that would be the end of us. I would suggest that we put the machine in the room you used to catch me and travel from the same place I was traveling before."

Immediately, Eisner instructed the police to gather as many men as possible to have the machine moved. I took the opportunity to change into the clothing he had given me. In just half an hour we were back in the room of windows, ready to begin. Climbing into the machine, I had to take a few moments to get used to the few differences there were from my own machine, for example: the future and past levers were turned around, so that I would have to pull to go forward and push to go back.

Eisner climbed in next to me. He looked very nervous. I warned him about the first feeling of time travel, how it would seem like he were falling. I then began to describe to him the things that he would see, but he interrupted me.

"I don't really care about all of that! We're wasting valuable time. Just start the machine, please."

I did not like being spoken to in such a way, but I assumed that it was his nervousness that caused him to be so impatient. I started the machine and immediately the lights on the dials turned on. Then, taking hold of the past lever, I pushed it forward a few inches. The machine suddenly started racing very quickly into the past. Every second we traveled at least two years. It was moving too fast for me to control very accurately. I tried pulling the lever back a little, but the machine did not slow down. How was I to stop the machine at exactly ninety-four years in the past, when I could not see the change in years very clearly. I would have to guess and then stop the machine very suddenly. This would certainly throw both Eisner and me violently from the machine. For just a second I looked over at my companion to see how he was doing. He had thrown up all over himself and then fainted. I thought to myself that this might be for the best, since he could not know or fear what was to come.

The machine was going faster and faster through time. I could only see the first three numbers on the dial. They read "303." The fourth number was simply moving too quickly now. I decided that as soon as the third number changed to zero, I would pull back the lever. That moment arrived only two seconds later. I immediately pulled the lever back as hard as I could and was happy to find myself still seated in the machine when it stopped. I had forgotten about the straps that had been added to the seat to hold us in.

The sudden stop awakened Eisner. He looked terribly confused.

"Is that it? Have we already arrived?" he asked. I had forgotten to look at the dial to see how close we had come to the year 2994.

"It looks as though we are two years earlier than we had planned," I said, "the dial says we're in the year 2992."

"It doesn't matter, as long as it is before his birth and his parents are still living in this area, we can still carry out our mission," said Eisner.

Looking around us, it appeared that we were in a forested area. I asked Eisner how far he thought we were from the edge of the city now.

"We are still very near. Less than a mile, I would say." Then seeing the vomit all over his clothing, "Goodness! What happened here?"

"Yes, sorry about that, but there seems to be something wrong with the machine. I could not control the speed of our travel. I'm afraid you became quite ill."

"Well, I guess I'll have to change. Excuse me." Eisner then climbed out of the machine, taking the two small bags with him, went behind a large oak tree. I took the opportunity to look over the machine and try to find out exactly what was wrong.

"Can you fix it?" asked Eisner coming out from behind the tree wearing a new pair of pants and buttoning up a black shirt.

"Yes. But I'll need to remove part of the engine. We'll have to find some tools."

"Fine. Let's move the machine over behind that row of trees. It will be harder for people to see there. We can look for tools in the city."

Eisner seemed familiar with the woods we were in, for after hiding the machine, he did not take a moment to think about which direction would lead us to the city, he simply started walking. Catching up to him, I asked, "How do you know the way?"

"I used to play in these woods when I was a child. My friends and I would ride our bicycles out here at six in the morning and catch fish in a pond just on the other side of that hill over there."

We walked for about fifteen minutes until we came upon a cement path with a line down the center. It ran through the forest for what seemed like miles. I put my hand to the ground and found that it was vibrating. Then Eisner grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me to where he was standing. Suddenly there appeared a long train-like vehicle filled with people. It sped silently past us and then after making a quick turn through the trees, was gone out of sight.

"Amazing!" I shouted.

"Come. There's a station not too far from here."

Soon we found ourselves in front of a large silver building, through which the train seemed to travel. Eisner bought some tickets and we boarded the next train that came along. Speeding through the city, I thought of something that upset me a great deal.

"Dr Eisner! Must we go all the way to Antus to complete this mission? That could take months!" I asked.

"Actually, no," he answered. "The leader of Antus was born here in our country. It was a year later that he moved to Antus. In fact, he was born in this very city."

I felt very relieved to hear this. I wanted to finish this so-called mission as soon as possible, for the idea of being at work again within the walls of my laboratory was an extremely comforting one. I did not care so much for the world I was in, I must admit. It was much too frightening and fast for me. And this threat of war ... Although wars are common enough in our own time, they hardly threaten world destruction. At least in our day the wars are left to the soldiers to fight. The wars of the future would make everyone a victim: men, women, and children.

We got off the train twenty minutes later at a station in the center of town. The area was full of people rushing about on foot. That train seemed to be the only form of transportation they had on land. I did not see a single horse or wagon. Come to think of it, I never saw any animals while visiting that time period. Eisner suddenly stopped in the middle of the walkway and began looking through one of his bags. He then pulled out a tom-out notebook page, which had what I guessed was an address written on it. He looked about the area for a few moments and then quickly pushed the paper back into his bag and started walking through the surrounding crowd of people.

I tried keeping up with him, but he was moving far too quickly and the street was so full of people that I kept getting held back. Soon, all that I could see of him was his black collar among the bright red, yellow, and green of the crowd. I wanted to shout for him to stop and wait, but he was too far to hear me and I did not feel like calling attention to him or myself.

Eventually I made it through the street crowd and found myself in a narrow alleyway. Eisner was nowhere to be found. I called out his name as quietly as I could, but no response ever came. Then something happened that nearly caused me to faint. A woman walked past me. She was fairly short and very very thin, her beautiful, yellow hair brightly reflecting the intense sunlight. She was wearing a long, flowing purple dress. I could not take my eyes from her. I felt that I knew her and suddenly had the strong urge to call to her. I did not know what to say, so I just yelled the first thing that came into my mind.

"Weena!"

She stopped and turned to look at me. Her face was nothing like Weena's. I was about to say "sorry" to her and that I had made a mistake, when suddenly the woman fell hard to the ground. I ran over to her and found blood running from her mouth and ears. She was dead.

Everything after that happened so quickly. It is difficult for me to remember it clearly enough to share it with you in detail. What I do remember is Eisner then calling to me from behind.

"Let's go. Our work is done."

I was too surprised to say anything to him. I felt as though I had been tricked somehow. He had promised not to kill. He had said that it was just a matter of a little poison to prevent her from having children. I felt terrible. I had let another Weena die.

I said nothing to Eisner the entire way back to the machine. Nor did he speak to me. However, he seemed a little relieved and calmer than before. We arrived back at the forest just as the sun was beginning to set, so it was much more difficult to see one's way through the trees. Yet this did not seem to prevent Eisner from easily finding our hiding place. We removed all of the leaves and tree branches that we had used to cover the machine and put it back into the place we had originally arrived in.

Within just a few minutes we were back in his time. However, the room we landed in was not the glass one designed to catch me. It was an empty office. We both got out of the machine and stood there in the dark silence for several minutes. Out the window, the sky seemed a dark reddish-purple color. Eisner ran to the window to have a look. He seemed worried about the result of his work. I walked to a window on the other side from his and looked out. There, all around us, lay a large city, full of people, just as before. The only difference was that there were no surrounding trees and that high up into the sky words of light seemed to hang over the city in a deep, dark red. I, of course, could not read the words, so I asked Eisner to translate.

He did not say anything for a few moments. Finally, when I started walking away from the window, he said to me in a very low and weak voice, "It says: Ekton City, the second capital of Antusia."

I did not bother to say anything to him. I let him stand there at the window, looking pitiful, and proceeded toward the machine. I wanted nothing to do with him or his time any longer. Nothing at all. I took off the clothes he had given me and changed back into my torn and dirty old rags. Then, without saying a word. I climbed into the machine, set the dial to our year, and watched Eisner disappear with the rest of the future.

(end of section)