by Willow Rose
“Because all you will find in these books are the opinions of people who think they are experts discussing time travel. But these are no more experts than you, my dear.” He pointed at me. “You are the real expert here. You have actually tried it. Those so-called experts have not. Believe me. I am one of them, and I have never done it. I only speculate about it. You know more than any of us.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t even know if I can do it again. I have to know more.”
“Of course you do. You want to do more, you want to go even further back in time, am I right?”
“Yes you are.”
Einstein took the books out of my hand and put them on the table next to Myrna. “We won’t be needing these after all,” he said to her. Myrna looked quite dissatisfied with his decision and the prospect of having to put all the books back by herself, but the professor didn’t notice. Instead he looked at me. “You will not find your answers in those books, I am afraid. We need to take more drastic measures. We must approach this in a scientific manner. But first I have something I must show you. It is of great importance. Let’s go for a fly.”
“But I have class …”
“Never mind about that. I will talk to Salathiel. It will be just fine.”
I had no idea where he was taking me but I followed him outside and up into the air. He seemed to be talking to himself a lot as we flew. I kept wondering if he was talking to me and a few times I tried to listen, but he was mumbling so softly it was really hard to understand. Eventually I decided that if he wanted to talk to me he would have to do so loud and clear. Instead I enjoyed the beautiful flight. It was still early in the morning and nature hadn’t quite awakened yet. Everything was calm; not a wind or a leaf moved and only a few birds sang like they were looking forward to this day with all its beauty and new challenges.
Finally Professor Einstein spoke out loud so I could hear him. “See, Meghan, the thing is that not many spirits have been able to do what you have done, and the few that have were not able to take it. Your gift is very rare, but also difficult and it can be hard on the soul.”
“What do you mean?” I asked thoughtfully. I had a feeling where this was going and it scared me a little.
“You have heard about Benjamin Harris, right?”
I shook my head while we passed a flock of birds. “No. I can’t say I have.” I thought hard for awhile but had never heard that name before.
“Benjamin went to your school twenty five years ago and he was the first ever to go back in time. He went back fifteen minutes, which had never been done before.”
I nodded remembering what Professor Grangé had told us in class some months ago. “Yes. I heard about that.”
“Very well then. Many years later Peter Parson came. He was a student at the Academy four years ago and on his final day of exam, he went back six seconds.”
I nodded again. “I heard about that too.”
“Very well. But I am sure no one told you the rest of their story.” He looked at me with his friendly smile. “Am I right?”
I swallowed hard. Had something happened to them that I didn’t know of? Was I to be afraid of this? Would it happen to me as well? “You are right,” I said with my heart in my throat.
He nodded content. “I thought so. Well I will try to make it short, but the thing is that these two other students, who had the same gift as you, they wanted to do more, just like you. They wanted to try again and again and go further back in time. See, Angels go back and forth in time constantly. They move on a completely different level than we do. And being able to travel in time is something that makes us closer to being like the Angels. Many spirits dream of becoming as wonderful and powerful as the Angels, and some come extremely close. Like you. You can do a lot of the things that Angels do. But the big difference between you and the Angels is that you have a human soul. You have a human nature, a human flesh. And being human, you often want more than you can handle.”
I tried to follow and believed that I understood where he was going. “So what did these other spirits do?”
Professor Albert Einstein sighed. “They got caught up in themselves, so to speak. Blinded by power. Then they got caught in time. And that is where they are now.”
It had gotten colder, I just realized, and when I looked down I saw icebergs underneath me in the almost white and sometimes icy ocean.
“Where are we?” I asked. My shoulders became icy. I tried to wipe it off.
“Antarctica—or South Pole, if you prefer.”
That was a first, I thought and stared at the beautiful white but desolate landscape underneath me. “What are we doing here?”
“This is where you will find them.”
“Find who?”
He turned his head and smiled at me; it seemed a little forced and he never answered my question. He looked like he was searching for something. Then he stopped. “It should be here somewhere.”
He floated a little further until we came close to a huge glacier as big as a mountain. I followed him into a long narrow crack inside of it. To my surprise we ended up in a cave. He stopped and landed on the ice. I followed him closely. The cave was open on top where sunlight came in and made sort of a spotlight in the middle, where I noticed something. It looked like two ice blocks. As we came closer, I felt like my body froze. Everything inside of me turned to stone. Inside of the blocks I could see two frozen faces. They both had their mouths opened like they had been frozen in the middle of a scream. My heart was racing.
“What is this? Who are they?”
Einstein sighed deeply. “I come here every now and then and every time I hope they have escaped. But nothing has happened yet, I am afraid.”
“Is this Benjamin Harris and Peter Parson?” I asked.
Professor Albert Einstein nodded. “I am afraid so, my dear.”
“What happened to them?”
“They froze in time. Their bodies became frozen. I tried to put them somewhere warm to begin with but that didn’t help and it was hard to find a deserted area with no people. So I chose this place instead. Sometimes I chop off some of the ice to make the block smaller, but it is always the same when I return. The fluid in their bodies is completely stiff and we haven’t found a way to thaw it.”
“But how … why?”
“They became obsessed with time travel. They kept going back and forth in time. Only by a few minutes and seconds, but because they tried to improve their time again and again without taking breaks, eventually they somehow managed to freeze time. And themselves.” Einstein touched the ice with the palm of his hand. “I have no idea how to get them out of there.”
“But what about Salathiel or Rahmiel or another Angel. Can’t they help them?”
“I am afraid not. See, Benjamin and Peter became greedy, they thought too highly of themselves and thought that they could be stronger and more powerful than the Angels. They became obsessed and they didn’t listen as Salathiel and Rahmiel warned them that this would happen. Instead they listened to the wrong voices and let evil emotions devour them from the inside. It became like poison in their minds. They were jealous of the Angels and wanted to be as good as them. Eventually the poison weakened their hearts. And you know what happens to a weak heart. It becomes a way for Satan to enter. And once that happens, Angels can’t help you any longer. You become unreachable.”
I swallowed hard again. This was quite the eye opener to me. I had to be careful. “How … How do I avoid this from happening to me?”
“I am no expert in that area, but I do know that you have to proceed with caution. You cannot ignore this gift that has been given to you. But you must guard your heart. Be careful what you think.”
When we left the ice blocks in the glacier I looked back one more time at the tormented faces. What went on inside of them? I kept thinking. Were their minds frozen as well? Or were they aware of what was going on outside of the ice block, but just couldn’t tell us? It was rea
lly scary and I suddenly had the deepest respect for my new ability. It was not something I could toy with. It was only to be used with caution.
But even after seeing this, I was still determined to know more. I wanted to know what I was doing and I wanted to be able to use it, to handle it—maybe even more than ever. I needed to control this so it wouldn’t control me. When we left the glacier and Antarctica with all its ice and coldness, Professor Einstein spoke to me again.
“I am not saying you cannot use your ability to fly back in time,” he said. “By all means I want you to explore it. I am just telling you to be careful. Don’t do it for the wrong reasons.”
“I get that now, thanks. But what I really want to know is how can I control it? How do I—say—go back in time and reach a certain date, for example.”
Einstein smiled at me. “Now that my dear is something I think you and I should work on. With my measuring instruments and scientific skills and your ability to fly fast, I am sure we can find a way.” He turned his head and looked at me. “Do you have a specific date in mind?
“I want to go eight years back in earthly time. To November fourth.”
Chapter 20
On our way back we stopped at the old airport where Professor Grangé had taken us the day before. Here I practiced flying for a couple of hours on the runway. Professor Einstein told me he wanted to see me in action to better put together a training program suited for me. He needed to know my weak spots, so we could improve them. I felt like an athlete trying out for a team. He kept pushing me in all kinds of tests and wrote a lot down on his notepad. He did a lot of measuring on my body and seemed very focused and in his own world all afternoon.
When the sun slowly went down over the ocean we finally stopped. Feeling exhausted from a long day, we flew the last miles back to the castle.
“Now I have something to work with,” he said. “I will meet you back here first thing in the morning.”
“But what about my school?”
Professor Einstein stopped in the middle of the air and looked at me. “This is far more important than your education. This is bigger than any of us. Salathiel will understand that. We need to get it right this time. We had two other students slip through our fingers and I will not let that happen again. I will not allow it.” He sighed before he continued. “I will talk to Salathiel about it. He will understand how important this is to all of us.”
I nodded. I finally got why he was so interested in this. It wasn’t just in a scientific way. This was his way of trying to make up for the ones they had lost. He felt guilty and responsible for not being able to protect Benjamin Harris and Peter Parson from what came over them. Maybe Salathiel and Rahmiel even felt the same way.
“I get it,” I said. “I will be here.”
“I know you will,” Einstein said as he left me at the entrance to the castle. Before he disappeared he turned and looked at me. “See you at sunrise.”
“To me it seems like it is easier for you to fly fast than to fly slow,” Professor Einstein said as I arrived at the airport just as the sun had started rising.
“Well, a good morning to you too,” I said while yawning and stretching. I was hardly awake and really not in the mood for flying yet. I hadn’t even gotten anything to eat.
Professor Einstein was so focused on his instruments he had brought with him, he didn’t even notice my sarcastic remark. He was setting up all the instruments on the runway while mumbling and talking to himself. I stared at him and envied him his energy and dedication to the project, but also found it a little annoying at this hour of day.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to me like he had just thought about something. “It is very interesting when you think about it,” he said. “I don’t think I have ever encountered anyone like you.”
I looked behind me to see if there was someone else present he could be talking to, but we were alone. Even the birds were still in their nests. I ignored his talking and decided that I was way too hungry to do anything right now. I needed breakfast. And I only had one choice if I wanted to have something to eat. I had to make it myself. It had been a few days since I had last tried to make anything appear between my hands, so it took awhile for me to find the concentration. I rubbed them hard together with my eyes closed and thought about all kinds of food I liked in the morning. And as I did I felt my hands get warm and when I opened my eyes I saw smoke appear from them. Out of it appeared pancakes, yogurt, strawberries, scrambled eggs and bunches of fruit: bananas, apples, pineapple, and watermelon. I stared at all the food and started laughing. I had actually done it right this time. This was exactly what I wanted.
I started eating and looked at Einstein as he scratched his wild white hair. Then he looked at me and at the food.
“Oh you brought food. How delightful! And very thoughtful of you. This is very good,” he said as he piled food into his hands like he was expecting a famine. “So have you thought about what I said?” he asked with his mouth full of pancakes.
“Thought about what?” I asked.
“The fact that you seem to be using less energy on speed flying than slow flying. I measured your energy level yesterday on various tests and you used much more energy on the slow flying. That is very unique. I can’t say I have ever seen that before.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but it did explain why I hadn’t been that tired after flying back in time. I could feel my energy dropping a little, but I also felt I could continue for a very long time.
“What you have is great endurance, my dear. It is very rare.”
“Endurance?”
“Yes the ability or strength to continue, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.” Einstein said while chewing. His eyes seemed wild like a thousand thoughts went through his mind every second. “It is very unique,” he repeated. “I can’t say I have ever seen it before.”
I stared at him for a second, worried whether he had lost it. He seemed a little off, like he had drawn himself back into his own world of thoughts. I just hoped he knew what he was doing. I didn’t want to end up frozen in an ice block on the South Pole.
Suddenly he seemed to snap out of it. His friendly eyes were back and so was his smile. “So are you ready for this?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
As we began the practice I realized that Professor Einstein had been right. It was so much easier for me to speed fly than to take it slow. When I first accelerated I didn’t use any energy to keep at the same speed or even accelerating even more. Einstein kept pushing me on the runway and made me fly faster and faster in a very small area. But as soon as I reached the speed of light, he would stop me. He didn’t want me to go back in time just yet, he said. For now we were only practicing and researching to find out more about how I did it. The rest was to follow, he kept telling me.
After four hours I started to get bored and I wanted to stop, but Professor Einstein had more tests to run and more instruments to test me with, so we continued. I flew in straight lines; I flew in circles; I flew ultra fast; I flew very slow. I flew long; I flew short. We tried everything and Einstein just observed and pushed buttons on his machinery. He never said anything to me except the orders on what to do next. Eventually I began to feel like an animal, like one of those lab mice.
As the sun was about to set, we were finally done. Einstein let me lie on the grass and regain my strength while he packed all of his instruments into a huge bag.
“So now what? What’s next?” I asked.
“Tomorrow we try to let you go back in time. Only by a few seconds. I want to be able to stop you and control you, but I want to get closer to figuring out how we control it.”
I jumped up. I was really looking forward to that. “I’m ready,” I said, suddenly filled with new energy. “Let’s do it now. Right away.”
Einstein looked at me and smiled under his thick mustache. “I know you are ready, but you need rest first. This has to be done right. Rest is
important. We cannot push you too much. I am not running any risks with you.”
“But I really think that I can do it now. I don’t feel tired at all.”
Einstein looked at me. “You may not, but I need my rest.”
The next morning I was at the airport before he arrived. Since I now knew how to get breakfast on my own, I ate in my dormitory before I left the castle. I was already flying back and forth on the runway when the professor got there.
“So how do we do this?” I asked as soon as he came down to me. “How do I control how far in time I go back?”
“Well, a good morning to you too,” Einstein said with a smile. “I am glad someone is eager to get started today.” Professor Einstein started unpacking all of his instruments and putting them up. Then he strapped different kinds of tracking devices on me. “Are you ready for this?” he asked when he was done. “Well that is just a silly question, isn’t it?” He laughed.
I flew onto the runway and got ready while Professor Einstein instructed me: “First we try for only one second. See if you can go back just one second. It is probably hard for you to do precisely, but try anyway.”
“How do I do that?”
Einstein shrugged. “I don’t know, my dear. That is what we are trying to find out. Just try to fly as fast as you can, until you reach the speed of light and as soon as you break the light barrier, you stop. Could you try that?”
“I guess.” I kind of knew when I had gone through the light barrier last time. I remembered that I saw an extreme light and guessed that had to be it. So I did as Einstein told me. I accelerated out the runway and circled the equator a couple of times until I saw the flash of light. Then I stopped. I didn’t think about where I was at that moment and when I did stop I didn’t see Professor Einstein or the airport anywhere, but after circling the area a little, I finally spotted it.
“Very well done, my dear,” the professor said as I came closer. “According to this, you went back three seconds. Let’s try again.”
