These guys were security force types and didn't even understand the technology that was going on. They were there as an advanced team to see what was on the other side. For whatever reason, the follow-up team never made it through. So, I didn't think they knew what was happening.
The radios that they brought with them still were not working. They did have some other devices which were able to look at the stars and tell approximately where we were. That's how I knew when I was, which was much earlier than I thought. It's a little hard to tell the time when there aren't any calendars, clocks or even books around.
Even thousands of years in the past my new friends couldn't tell me what organization they work for. I figured it was one of the three-letter agencies that prefer to remain nameless. Unlike me, they didn't have patches or any unit identification on their uniform other than name and rank. They tried not to catch me up on what had happened during the next 50 years. They didn't know exactly where I was going back to. I could be going back to 1946 or maybe 1993. So, it was a bit of a standoff. Still, these guys liked to talk.
I was relieved to know that the Red Sox did win the World Series again, but they wouldn't tell me when it happened. I think they took some pleasure in torturing me. So, I had to wait until I got back to figure that one out.
They did tell me about a war that was currently going on. But again, they wouldn't tell me exact details other than it was in the Middle East. So, we talked about mundane things like favorite activities such as going to the beach and that type of stuff.
After a few days, their electronics stopped working. They had a charger for the radio though, so they could check it periodically. You would have thought they would have brought chargers for everything else. I think that's where I first got interested in solar power. Why would you send someone through time with devices that need power and no backup? They didn't know any better than we did in 1946.
We ended up spending a lot of time playing kind of a stupid game of "is it still there?" where I would tell them something from 1946 and they would confirm whether it was there or not in their timeframe. After about three weeks, it was obvious that our situation had not improved. Sgt. Tyler had been continually having various stomach problems. If it had been internal bleeding, he would have died by now, but we think he developed some sort of infection. They would sit with me and wait to see if the blue lights returned. It was several weeks and then one night it returned, and we knew it was time to go.
When we saw the blue light, we knew that we had to start moving. It was about a half a mile back to the site and we didn't know how long the light was going to last. Then the radio went off.
”A - Group acknowledge, this is sector one.”
Campbell grabbed the radio and said, "Acknowledged, moving to extraction point.”
The radio came back on, "we have a 30-minute window, acknowledge"
"Acknowledged"
We started packing up the gear, said our goodbyes and started moving towards the stone circle. Mira walked with us part of the way. Then she stopped and kissed me. I wasn't good with goodbyes and I wasn't sure what we were to one another. I said, "thank you for everything.” Her response was more, "You will be with me always", and she pointed to herself. I thought she meant in her heart, but she meant something different. If I had stayed a few more months, I would have learned what that was. I probably could have handled the goodbye better, but I was young, in the wrong century, and I had a matter of minutes to get home. You can understand what that's like.
As we got closer, the blue light got brighter and formed a dome over Stonehenge. You could see what looked like an almost a mirror shaped space in the middle of the complex. We started walking towards it. As we got closer, we got a tingling feeling. The portal continued to open and we could see people in lab coats and uniforms on the other side.
At that moment, Campbell said, “Three to transport” and the base replied, ”What do you mean three? This trip was only approved for two.” Campbell said, "We will explain this must be three.” I took a deep breath and we stepped through the window.
It wasn't quite as painful the second time through. It was less disorienting, and I landed standing up. We didn't come out with the people in the lab coats. We found ourselves in a similar ancient site somewhere in the desert. It was the middle of the night, so it was hard to tell. It was quite a bit warmer than England though. Tyler crashed into another rock when he landed. I guess it was fate. He wasn't knocked out this time and was able to jump on the radio. Tyler says, “We’re through.” Then I heard Campbell say something that surprised the hell out of me, “We got him.” And as I turned around, I noticed that the guns that I had given back to them, we're now pointed at me. It seems I wasn't just a blip after all. I was part of a fishing trip. They had me on the line all this time and I didn't even know it.
"Sorry, buddy. Orders." Campbell said.
"Yeah – orders," I think that was the last thing I said to him.
As we walked away from the ruins the blue light faded along with my hopes of returning to my time. Luckily, we only had to walk about 5 miles and it wasn't that hot yet. Still, walking through the desert in the middle of the night is not something I would recommend. After a few wrong turns, we got to where we were going about the time the sun was coming up. I still don't know exactly where it was.
This looked like another archaeological site except for the modern decorations. There were a bunch of jeeps and a series of trailers. I saw many of the large magnets and coils that I had that were very similar to what I had seen on my ship in 1946. As we walked inside, a gentleman in a white lab coat says, "We're going to be placing you in protective custody, for your protection. (Yeah, right!) We need to do some evaluation to make sure that you haven't brought back any diseases, etc., etc.” I'm pretty sure I stopped listening to him about halfway through his speech.
Next two more Marines "escorted me" down a hallway and opened a door. ”After you.” I stepped inside. ”Make yourself comfortable. There's a cot, toilet, some beverages and snacks on the shelf. We'll be back for you in a while.” It wasn't a cage or cell, but I was not getting out of this room anytime soon.
Soon an officer showed up at my cell and said, "Welcome back soldier. How does it feel to be the only living member of Project Rainbow?"
I shrugged, "I have no idea what project rainbow is, but okay.”
He says "in 1945, you begin moving equipment onto a navy ship, with the assistance of Albert Einstein and others. Ring any bells?"
I said "Yes. We worked on it for quite some time. It was part of an anti-mine and radar-evading device. But now that you mentioned it, it probably had some other functionality too."
The captain replied, "You think?"
"Yep, so now what happens?"
"Well, we haven't decided yet. It's not like we can just let you out into the wild. We don't know what you might have brought back from being in the remote past. The two gentlemen that were with you are also going to be in quarantine for a little while as we examine them for medical, but we suddenly need to figure out what we're going to do with you."
I said, "I'd be happy with a new identity and a plane ticket back to New York. Or better yet, back pay for what I'm guessing is 50 years.”
The Captain laughed and said, "We'll see about that, but for right now you're staying right here.”
The next three days were a lot of poking and prodding. I was sitting with people with glasses, asking probing questions about how I felt. They wanted to know where I came from and what I thought of my experience and that type of thing. Then they would take me back to my cell. I would spend most the rest of my time there asked if there were any movies I could watch. Everyone else seemed to be watching something on a box that was similar to what television was 50 years ago. At the time, I didn't know if that still existed or not. Netflix is a huge improvement over what I remember.
Most of the questions were one way. I was not able to find out too much about what they were do
ing. They seem to be more than content to repeatedly ask me questions about what I was doing. My story never changed. I was a lowly electrician who was asked to install a bunch of electrical equipment and next thing I know I'm standing in the middle of a bunch of stones, in the middle of England, 4000 years ago, end of the story.
This went on for about a week. It became obvious that they didn't know what happened on the Eldridge any more than I did. I also noticed that my companions from the other side were now walking around freely, so my confinement was not a medical issue.
By the second week, I was starting to think how I can escape from here. It was apparent that I was not going to leave through normal channels. It was about that time that fate intervened. I didn't realize that I was in the middle of a war zone, but the war zone presented itself in a big way. One of the advantages of being in a cell is that it's generally a pretty secure place as far as buildings go. So, when the rocket or whatever it was hit our building, pretty much everything around me was destroyed.
I was just left with a convenient person-size hole in the wall. I waited a few minutes for the dust to clear and see if there was going to be a second strike. There weren't any sounds other than the crackling of the fire. No one was coming to check on me either. I waited a few more minutes and crawled through the hole and out into the sunlight.
Some of the vehicles were intact, but that was about it. I knew I couldn't stay there, but I needed more than the shirt on my back to get out there. I started looking around for some supplies and maybe some car keys. Everyone was dead including Campbell and Tyler. And that's where I decided to hatch a plan.
I was able to find one of Tyler's uniforms in the laundry area and got dressed. It was slightly charred, but it was better than the hospital gown I had been wearing. I knew I wasn't going to be going home as Petty Officer Wolfe, but I thought I might be able to go home as Sgt. Tyler.
We looked alike and I knew enough about him to probably pass to the casual observer. As the buildings were engulfed in flames, I knew that most of the remains would be cremated in the process. So, I just let that happen. I hadn't seen much in the way of bodies anyway. Whatever hit the site destroyed pretty much everything. Also, based on the nature of what was going on at that site, we weren't going to be missed right away. I figured no one was coming to the rescue.
I gathered enough clothes to make a uniform and found a radio that worked. There were also bags of snacks and water bottles strewn around one area. I grabbed what I could and started moving away, looking for shelter.
Chapter 9 - Burns
It was about that time the pain set in and my vision got a little blurry. Blood from a head wound was also getting into my eyes. I didn't even realize I had gotten hit by parts of my wall, or that I had burned myself rather severely looking through the debris. My priority was just getting out of there.
I started moving away from where the missile or whatever it seemed to be coming from. I wasn't even sure exactly what country I was in. I sort of recognized some of the ruins. I had seen some of them in books, but I wasn't even sure where I was. So, I figured if the rockets were coming from one direction, I was going to go in the opposite direction. That turned out to be a reasonably safe assessment at least for the moment. Within a couple of minutes, I heard a roar in the sky and saw two jets coming from the direction that I was headed. There were several large explosions off in the distance where the rockets seemed to be coming from. So, I thought that was a good sign. This is the first time I had seen a military jet.
I know what they are now, but at the time I'd never seen anything quite like that. I saw the American flag on the tail and jumped up and waved at them. On their return trip, one of the pilots waved his wing so I knew they saw me. As I continued to walk, I heard the sound of the helicopter coming to greet me.
They landed about 500 yards away from me. There was a pilot and two army guys on board. They asked me who I was and what happened. I told them my name was Sgt. Stephen Tyler. I told him that I could only tell him a little bit about our mission because it was classified. He understood and asked if there were any other survivors. I said I didn't see any but would take them back to the location.
By the time we got back to the site, it was just smoldering. There were no survivors and you couldn't even tell what it might have been. We walked around for a bit and headed back to the helicopter. It was a short ride back to the base in southern Iraq.
At the time, I didn't realize how severe the burns were to my hands and face. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For the moment I had no fingerprints and my head was swelling up like a pumpkin. The picture they had for Sgt. Tyler was several years old. It was probably as close to what I looked like at the moment as possible. So, Sgt. Stephen Tyler was reborn.
I had a concussion and told them I was having problems remembering things. It was a convenient out. I was seeing all sorts of things I had never seen before. Color TV, the Internet, McDonald's, microwave ovens, etc. It was mind-blowing. My memory problems gave me credibility back at the base. We called it shell shocked back in the day, but they called it PTSD now. Strangely, no one higher in the food chain stepped in to question me or act on my behalf. I don't know if there was anyone above those working at the trailers, or if they were content with my amnesia.
The doctors at the base checked me out and noticed that I had a broken leg in addition to my burns. They didn't seem to notice that it was an old wound, but it was enough to get me a ticket home. I wasn't entirely sure where that was going to be. I figured I would continue along with the approach that I was from upstate New York.
Since all of my belongings and identification were gone, and I couldn't do everything for myself with my burns, I had a brief stopover in a hospital in Germany. I was able to get new paperwork, got myself a driver's license and a passport all in the name of Sergeant Stephen Tyler. The swelling in my face went down enough to take a decent picture.
I don't know if it was the right decision at the time, but it seemed to be a whole lot better than being locked up in a room where who knows what was going to happen to me next. Germany was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. My visions of Germany were the pictures that I saw in the late 1940s. I figured it was going to be just a mass of burnt buildings, but actually, they've cleaned it up and it's a pretty nice-looking place. The beer was also well worth the trip.
I just wanted to be back on U.S. soil and have this whole thing be over. I wasn't sure what I was going to do next because any family I had was probably dead and gone. Stephen Tyler didn't seem to have any more attachments than I did so I figured I would play the hand I was dealt.
I slept most of the plane ride back from Germany. I had never been on a jet before and was pleasantly surprised how comfortable it was. When I got back to New York, I was also surprised to see that the USO still does stuff to welcome the military. They were very helpful in pointing me to where I was trying to go.
I explained that I was having problems getting around with my burns and that I was a little dizzy. I also told them I was still having memory problems. Much to my surprise, they informed me that things were already set up for me in advance. They handed me a packet which had a welcome home card from my Grandfather, a train ticket, $50 and a note that said: "Don't be late because we have a surprise.”
It turned out there was a homecoming parade waiting for me when I got upstate. It didn't quite register what was about to happen until I pulled into the train station and saw the signs and all the cars. This is where I thought things were going to completely go off the rails. I figured someone was going to look at me and question if I was the person they thought I was.
As luck would have it, Sgt. Tyler had been gone from that town for almost six years. And not too many people knew him. His grandfather was kind of a fixture in the town though. He was still alive, although not doing particularly well. I thought for sure my Grandfather would call my bluff. I didn't know if I could pull it off, but I figured it was better than h
im finding out that his grandson was dead. Since I didn't have anyone in this world currently, it would be nice to have one person that I could call family, even if it wasn't my real family.
Chapter 10 - Everyone Loves a Parade
I didn't know exactly what to expect when I got to my grandfather's town. When the war ended for me in 1945, I was on coastal patrol and we didn't get the attention that other GIs got coming back. We were still in the community most of the time during the war. So, people kind of got used to us and probably took us for granted. When the war ended, we were still there. So, this was a new experience for me.
The town itself had a population of probably about 2,000 and you would have thought that all of them had come out for this celebration. I got to meet my grandfather the first time as I stepped off the train. He wasn't hard to spot. The tears were a dead giveaway. He says, "You don't look too much worse for the wear.” Even though I had burns on my face and bandages on my hand I laughed and started to tear up myself.
He says, "It's been a long time.” And I said, "Yes, it has.” He reminded me of a story when we went fishing and it just so happens, that was one of the memories that the real Stephen had recounted with me. So, I was able to add a little response to it. That solidified my new identity.
The Test Page 3
