by Jason Ayres
Future Josh had watched the events agonised, and wanting to intervene, but he knew that he could not due to the consequences of changing history. But he knew that he could still make sure Dan paid for his crimes.
In early 2041, Josh was working away, as ever, in his laboratory at the university. For the past ten years he had spent every spare moment doing more research into the Time Bubbles. He had learned a great deal and felt sure he could unlock the secrets of how to control them. In fact, he knew that he would – his future persona had already told him so.
It was that future persona that now walked in the lab and coolly greeted him.
“Hello, again!” he said.
“Oh, bloody hell, not you again,” joked Josh. “What do you want this time? I hope you’ve come to tell me something useful. Like how to reverse the tachyons in this field generator, for example.”
“Now you know I can’t tell you that,” replied Future Josh.
“I know. I’ve got to work it out for myself,” said Josh. “It’s taking bloody long enough, I know that. Still, at least I’ve got my pilot’s licence now, so that’s one thing sorted.”
“I’m here on a more serious matter, I’m afraid,” said Future Josh. “The time has come for me to tell you something important – something you need to act on.”
“What is it?” asked Josh.
“It’s about Lauren. Ryan didn’t kill her. Dan did.”
“I knew it. I was never happy about Ryan going down for that. How do you know?”
“Because I was there,” replied Future Josh.
“And you didn’t do anything to stop it?” asked the younger Josh.
“First rule of time travel, I’m afraid,” replied Future Josh. “You know the score, changing history and all that.”
“So what can we do about it?” asked Josh. “Ryan’s been convicted, the case is closed.”
“Well,” replied Future Josh. “As you know, Peter is coming out of The Time Bubble in a few weeks. Which means it will be ready for someone else to go in. For a whole 22 years, in fact. Well, we can’t risk some innocent bystander getting trapped in there, can we? Not for that length of time. So it strikes me that this is the ideal opportunity for you to get rid of Dan.”
“I like it,” said Josh. “But how are we going to get him in there?”
“Oh you’ll think of something, I’m sure,” replied Future Josh. He produced a wand-like device from his pocket that looked like an advanced version of the tachyometer that Josh already possessed.
He pointed it in front of him and pressed a button on it. “Bye for now,” he said, and stepped forward and vanished.
A few days later, Josh got everyone together for a meeting and they discussed what had been said. Between them they came up with a plan.
Jess had grown into an extremely attractive young woman, and it was she who came up with the idea. Dan was still hanging around in the pubs of the town and leering at all of the young girls, even though he was now old enough to be their father. He had tried it on with Jess in the Red Lion only a couple of weeks ago. She’d rebuffed him then, but she knew he would be putty in her hands, given the opportunity.
It was only a week shy of Jess’s 21st birthday, so they made their plans around that. The biggest stumbling block would be getting Dan to the tunnel at the right time. He was unlikely to be hanging around at 6.45 in the morning. So they hit on the idea of staging her 21st birthday party the previous evening.
She made sure she bumped into him in the pub the previous weekend when she flirted like crazy, despite the fact that she found him repulsive. He lapped it up and was only too eager to accept when she invited him to her 21st birthday party, to be held the following Friday evening at her house.
They were all there at the party, Charlie and Kaylee, Josh and Alice. Charlie and Josh had a crucial part to play.
Everything had been planned down to the last detail. The most important thing they needed to do was to keep the party going all night. At least they didn’t have to worry about the neighbours calling the police to complain about the noise. Hannah was the police.
Jess played up to Dan all evening. Although she was watching her alcohol intake, there was no need for him to know that. As the night wore in, she acted increasingly drunk, much to his satisfaction. They were always easier when they were drunk in his experience.
He was definitely drunk and couldn’t resist taking a few pot-shots at some of his old enemies, most notably when he bumped into Hannah on the landing on his way back from the toilet and announced to her: “I’m going to shag your daughter.” She resisted the temptation to punch him in the face, and merely smiled sweetly, knowing what was to come.
About 6.15am, Jess playfully suggested he come outside with her, leaving him in no doubt as to her intentions. They went out into the back garden and he made a drunken lunge for her.
“Not here,” she said, and led him towards the back gate. “Someone might see.”
She took his hand and led him out through the garden gate and along the road that led towards the tunnel. She checked her watch. She’d timed it perfectly.
She led him into the tunnel, and stopped midway through. Had he looked more closely, he might have noticed the chalk marks on the floor, where she now made sure he lined up.
“Now close your eyes and count to ten,” she said. “And I’m going to take my clothes off.”
He did as he was instructed. Just before he reached ten, Peter emerged from the tunnel right in front of where Dan was standing.
“Hello, Dad,” she said.
She gave Charlie and Josh, who were waiting at the end of the tunnel, their cue and they came running towards them.
Neither Dan nor Peter had a clue what was going on and exchanged a few confused words and then the deed was done. Charlie and Josh shoved Dan into The Time Bubble where he was to remain, trapped like a fly in amber for the next 22 years.
Epilogue – Summer 2049
After almost another decade of research, Josh was ready to carry out his final tests with the new tachyometer Mark IV. Alice had joined him in the lab for the two big tests which he hoped would finally create the ability for them to control their travels through time.
He had set up that traditional scientist’s tool for the experiment, the maze for lab rats to run through. The rats already knew their way through the maze. They had been through it dozens of times. What they didn’t know was that one of them was about to become the first time-travelling rat in history.
Josh pointed the tachyometer at a central point in the maze and switched it on to generate the Bubble. He had set the device to five seconds.
Alice released the gate at the entrance to the maze, and Maisie, the appropriately named rat, began to scurry through the twists and turns. Just as they’d hoped, when she reached the point where Josh had directed the tachyometer, she vanished.
Five seconds later, she reappeared and ran on as if nothing had happened.
“Now for the really clever bit,” said Josh.
He rotated one of the dials on the tachyometer by 180 degrees and pointed it at the same point of the maze as before. Once again, Alice released Maisie and this time something really strange happened.
Before Maisie got more than a quarter of the way into the maze, a second rat appeared in the middle of the maze and continued on towards the exit. For five seconds there were two rats in the maze, until Maisie reached the middle and vanished.
“What happened there?” asked Alice. “Where did the second rat come from?” Josh hadn’t told her about the second part of the experiment in case it didn’t work.
“That was the same rat,” replied Josh. “I just sent Maisie back in time five seconds.”
“So that’s how you were able to travel back in time to rescue me in the helicopter,” she said.
“It seems so,” he said, “That must happen quite soon. I must be about the age I was when I turned up in the helicopter. I just need to put some finishing touches to
this device, and then we can go anywhere, forwards or backwards in time.”
Alice put Maisie back in her cage, topped up her food, and they left the lab, hand-in-hand, thinking about the adventures that lay ahead.
The end…
…but the story continues in Man Out Of Time.
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Also by Jason Ayres:
My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday
When 54 year old Thomas Scott wakes up in a hospital bed on New Year’s Day he has no memory of who he is or why he is there. Racked with pain from a terminal illness, death swiftly follows.
The next day he awakes to find himself alive again and confused, especially when he discovers that it is now New Year’s Eve. As the days pass he begins to realise that he is living his life backwards one day at a time.
So begins the extraordinary tale of a man who goes to sleep on Sunday nights and wakes up on Saturday mornings: A man who cannot form a meaningful relationship with a woman because when he jumps back to the previous day, she has no memory of him. And a man who can win a fortune from gambling any time he likes, but has only one day to spend it.
Trying to find some purpose in life he resolves to find out as much about his own personal history as he can. Learning of the death of his wife and an attack on his daughter, he prepares to make changes in the past to secure their future.
From middle-aged father all the way back to childhood, the passing years present all manner of different challenges as he grows ever more youthful.
Set in and around Oxford between the years of 1970 and 2025, this unique concept for a time travel novel features plenty of humour, nostalgia and “what if?” moments.
Taking place in the same universe as the author's Time Bubble series, this is a standalone novel that can be enjoyed without the need to have read those earlier books.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00UDHAD0M
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UDHAD0M
Also by Jason Ayres:
The Time Bubble
Charlie and Josh’s interests were the same as most other teenagers: drinking, parties and girls. That was until the day they discovered the Time Bubble.
It starts at a bit of fun, jumping a few seconds into the future. Soon things take a more serious turn as the leaps in time increase in duration. When a teenage girl goes missing, and the police become involved, suspicion falls on Charlie. How can he explain where she is? Will anyone believe him?
As the long term dangers of the Bubble become clear, one man comes up with a solution – one that could hold the key to his own salvation.
Set in a small market town in Southern England in the early 21st century, this light-hearted time travel novel has plenty to delight readers of all ages.
This novel is the first part of a trilogy which continues with Global Cooling and concludes with Man Out Of Time.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00L3K1B8G
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3K1B8G
Also by Jason Ayres:
Man Out Of Time
What would you do if you found yourself cast 22 years into the future? Into a world where your home is no longer your home and you’ve been declared legally dead?
This is the situation that Daniel Fisher finds himself in at the beginning of this novel, the latest release in The Time Bubble series.
Stranded in the future, in a place where his outdated currency is worthless, things go from bad to worse for Dan very quickly. Before long he finds himself incarcerated in a secure psychiatric unit, his hopes of ever returning to the past looking bleak.
Elsewhere, Josh has unlocked the secrets of the time bubbles, and can now freely travel in time. He returns to the scene of past encounters, as well as travelling to the future to join Peter on his adventures through time. But has he been careful enough to prevent others from discovering his secrets?
This book concludes The Time Bubble trilogy, tying up all of the loose ends from the first two books, as well as linking in to the spin-off novel, My Tomorrow Your Yesterday.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013A0ZN7Q
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013A0ZN7Q
Also by Jason Ayres:
Fortysomething Father
Jason Ayres is a father, a DJ, a junk food addict, a karaoke presenter, a wannabe writer and more.
Fatherhood arrived unexpectedly for him in his late thirties. In the space of five years he went from suited-and-booted Account Director with a big global company, to stay-at-home Dad and mobile DJ.
With time on his hands in-between karaoke nights and nappy changes, he began to keep a diary about his experiences. The end result is this collection of anecdotes about all of the topics above and more.
From trying to track down the perfect buffet, to the pitfalls of shopping in Tesco, days out with the kids, and writing to Walkers Crisps with new suggestions for their product ranges, the chapters are many and varied.
This book was the first of two volumes of the Stay At Home Dad Diaries. The second, "Austerity Dad", was launched in 2013. Jason then continued his diaries via a weekly column in the Oxford Mail.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CPCYO1W
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CPCYO1W
Also by Jason Ayres:
Austerity Dad
In this swashbuckling sequel to Fortysomething Father, Jason Ayres regales us with another year of random musings on his life as a stay-at-home dad and more.
Along the way he offers lots of money-saving tips for the family on a budget. These vary from the reasonably sensible (don't be conned into pre-booking aeroplane seats) to those you probably shouldn't try at home (DIY dentistry and cheese grater pedicures).
As always, the challenges of stay-at-home parenting are never far away. Taking kids on holiday, fussy eating, and the joys of nappies are among the many topics discussed. The writer's obsession with junk food also continues unabated. From misty-eyed reminiscences about the glory days of the Little Chef, to dreaming up strange new ideas for pizza toppings, there's plenty of food for thought.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E83HM88
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E83HM88
Also by Jason Ayres:
The Sausage Man
When Jason Ayres entered a competition to become Britain’s Official Sausage Taster for the 2013 Sausage Awards, he hadn't really expected to win.
His unexpected triumph soon led to a whirlwind adventure in the world of sausages! From tastings to awards, newspaper reports to radio interviews, the author found himself thrust into the limelight as “The Sausage Man”.
For a man with a lifelong love of pork products this was a dream come true – his equivalent of scoring the winning goal in the World Cup Final.
Now you can read for yourself the full story of his six month adventure, from humble beginnings to fully fledged sausage taster.
Along the way, there are anecdotes and factoids galore. Want to know the length of the world's longest sausage, or why we call sausages, "bangers?" It's all here and more - plus off-the-wall new recipe ideas (sausage mince pies, anyone?) and the answers to some reader's sausage dilemmas!
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IF4LB8S
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF4LB8S
About the author
Jason Ayres began his writing career at Primary School in 1979 with a 94 chapter epic space adventure. It featured the exploits of Captain Jason who bore more than a passing resemblance to a famous starship
captain of the era. Sadly, the plot was just getting going when his teacher firmly suggested that he try writing about something else.
Never one to let the creative sap rest for long, by the mid 1980's he was furiously scribbling down plays in "spare" exercise books liberated from the stationery cupboard. These plays starred his classmates and girls he fancied in a number of outrageous and libellous scenarios. The plays have now been placed securely under lock and key with strict instructions never to release them to the general public.
Unfortunately his budding aspirations as a writer were somewhat stifled in his twenties by an ill-advised fifteen year career in the Market Research industry. At this time, writing opportunities were somewhat limited by having to go to work every day. However he still found time to write numerous letters to various manufacturers advising them on their product ranges. He also produced many spoof newsletters for the countless activities that a social life based around the pub entailed.
Eventually he left the world of sales figures behind to become a stay-at-home dad, giving him a whole new source of material to write about. His first two humorous parenting diaries, "Fortysomething Father" and "Austerity Dad", were published in 2013. This was followed in 2014 by a third book, “The Sausage Man”, recording his adventures in the world of sausages. He also continued writing about his parenting experiences via a weekly column in the Oxford Mail.
In the summer of 2014 Jason released his first novel, "The Time Bubble", which was a huge hit both in the UK and the US, achieving the coveted #1 spot in the YA Time Travel category. The sequel, "Global Cooling" followed in November, followed by “Man Out Of Time” in September 2015, completing the trilogy.
