by Jason Ayres
Charlie wasn’t entirely convinced. “What about all that stuff earlier about creating duplicate universes? Does this not just mean that you’ll be creating another duplicate? So there will be one where you sent the person back and one where you didn’t? Which one will we be in?”
“Enough,” said Lauren, who wasn’t stupid, but didn’t have quite the intellectual prowess of some of the others. “This is making my head swim. You may understand what you are talking about, but you’ve lost me completely.”
“It does make sense,” said Alice, who, having lived and worked with Josh for so many years, had heard variations on these theories before. “We would be in the universe where the person was sent back and all would be well because that is what we would remember.”
“But from what he was saying earlier, another universe would be created where the person wasn’t sent back. What about the friends and relatives of the person in that universe? They would still suffer because he or she would still go missing.”
“Look, it’s hard enough trying to manage all this in one universe, let alone worrying about all the others,” said Josh. “And a lot of this is all still theory, remember? We can’t be totally sure what’s going to happen, but we’ve already looked at all the other options and rejected them. This is pretty much the best plan we’ve got, for now.”
While Josh was talking, the others, with the exception of Lauren, had been concentrating so intensely that they hadn’t notice a newcomer approach their table. Standing almost right behind Josh, now he spoke, in a strangely familiar voice.
“I’ve got a much better plan than that,” said the new arrival, making them all look up.
“Yes, it’s me,” said the grey-haired, middle-aged man standing in front of them.
There was no denying who they were looking at, despite his aged appearance.
It was Future Josh.
Chapter Five
July 2040
“You again!” said Josh, turning in surprise to face his future self. If it was a shock to him, that was nothing in comparison to the reaction of his friends around the table. The looks on their faces ranged from mild bemusement to shock. None of them apart from Alice had encountered him before and, although they had been told about him, it was no substitute for actually seeing him in the flesh.
He was dressed very similarly to his younger self, with an open-necked shirt and jeans, but the lines on his face and the grey hair betrayed his age. He looked to be at least twenty years older than his present-day version.
“Yes, it’s me!” announced the new arrival, full of beans and clearly revelling in the moment. “Have you got room for one more at the table? Of course you have. Seven is such an odd number for a dinner party, and you’ve only got two men. I’ll just sit here and even things up a bit, shall I?”
He slipped into a vacant space at the end of the table between Alice and Kaylee. This was a little too close to Alice for the younger Josh’s comfort.
“Don’t get too cosy with her,” he said. “She’s not your wife yet.”
“And she possibly never will be,” commented Charlie. “He might not even be from this universe, bearing in mind what we were talking about earlier.”
“Are you from our universe?” asked Jess, who was sitting opposite.
Before Future Josh could answer, Mario, who had followed Josh to the table, intervened.
“Excuse me, my friends, but do you know this person? He just barged straight past me at the front desk claiming he was invited to your party.”
“Yes, that’s OK, Mario,” said Josh. “This is my…uncle – isn’t that right, Great-Uncle Josh?”
“Yes, that’s it. I’m his uncle!” said Future Josh. “I’m such a legend in my family that my nephew here was named after me. Now then, Mario, any chance of a drink, old chap?”
Casting his eye over the table, he spotted one of the several bottles of Chianti that were on the go. “Ah yes, that will do nicely.” Grabbing a glass off an empty neighbouring table, he started to pour himself a drink.
“Ah yes, I can see the family resemblance,” said Mario. The tone of his voice suggested that he wasn’t impressed by the new arrival’s antics.
“If there is anything else I can get you, sir?” he added.
“Actually I’d love one of your Filletto Marios,” said Future Josh. “I haven’t had one of them in years.”
“And how would sir like that done?” asked Mario.
“Rare please, with plenty of chips, no salad,” replied Future Josh.
“Ah, just like your nephew,” said Mario.
He was a wily old fox, Mario, thought the younger Josh. Very little got past him, but surely he couldn’t suspect the truth, could he?
“Indeed, that will be lovely,” said Future Josh. “And could I have another bottle of this Chianti, too?”
Examining the bottle which was still in his hand, he commented, “Wow – this is vintage stuff, isn’t it? Well, it is where I come from. Cheers, Mario.”
As he took a large, appreciative swig, Mario shuffled off back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, the others sat staring, still gobsmacked at actually seeing Future Josh in the flesh.
It was Hannah who broke the silence, as soon as Mario was out of earshot.
“Josh, can you have a word with your future self?” he asked. “You seem to have become rather arrogant in your old age.”
“He’s always been like that,” commented Charlie.
“Yes, you have, and you were rather rude to Mario, I thought,” added Alice. Then she turned to the younger Josh and added, “You should know better at his age.”
“Relax,” said Future Josh. “I’m just enjoying myself. You’ll be pleased when I tell you why I’ve come here. I’m going to do you all a favour.”
Taking another mouthful of wine, he continued. “I’ve come to tell you that you don’t need to worry about the time bubble anymore. It’s all taken care of.”
“Really?” asked Hannah. “How did you manage that, then, as we’ve not managed to come up with anything.”
“I know. I was here, remember, and that’s why I’m here now,” replied Future Josh. “I’ve been pretty busy over the last quarter of a century or so since you had this meal. I’ve unlocked the secrets of time travel, as you all knew I would, and a lot more besides that.”
“You just can’t resist showing off, can you?” said Charlie, in a resigned tone brought on from years of listening to Josh’s boasting.
“Tell me more,” insisted the younger Josh, ignoring Charlie. “Maybe we can speed things up a bit.”
“Maybe we could,” said Future Josh. “But you don’t want me to alter this timeline too much, do you? I’ve already created another universe just by coming here. I don’t want to alter your world too dramatically and you wouldn’t want me to, believe me. Apart from the one thing I’ve come to tell you, you’d be better off letting things follow their natural course here.”
“So the multiverse theory we’ve been talking about is true, then?” asked Charlie.
“It certainly is,” said Future Josh. “There are millions of them out there. I’m pretty certain I’m responsible for creating a lot of them, but by no means all. It was quite exciting finding it all out, though not without its share of danger.”
“What sort of danger?” asked Alice.
“Oh, you’ve got all that to look forward to, don’t let me spoil it for you,” he added, looking directly at his younger self and winking. “Just keep your wits about you and you’ll be OK – probably. Just make sure you don’t forget about the cellar in the dining hall at the college. You might need it at some point, and I don’t mean for a cheese and wine evening.”
“Why don’t you quit showing off and tell us why you have come here tonight?” suggested Hannah.
“I already have,” said Future Josh. “I told you, it’s to tell you not to worry about the time bubble. My…or do I mean your theory was right, young Josh,” he said to his younger self.
&
nbsp; “Of course it was,” said Charlie, noticing the satisfied look on younger Josh’s face, and adding, “as usual.”
“Indeed, I now know how to create, manipulate and delete time bubbles at will,” continued Future Josh. “I remembered how stressed out you lot were at this meal about what to do when Peter comes out so I thought I’d pop back and put your minds at rest. I’ll be there the day he comes out of the bubble, and as soon as he does, I’ll deactivate it.”
“Well, you could have turned up earlier,” said Hannah. “We’ve been sat here for the last half an hour trying to work out what to do.”
“Yeah, we’ve been wasting valuable drinking time,” piped up Lauren, tipsily.
“Hardly,” remarked Future Josh, noting the collection of empty glasses in front of Lauren. “Sorry about being an hour late. I may be the king of time travel but I’m always forgetting to adjust for British Summer Time. Still, at least I got the right day. And I’m in the right universe. I think.”
While he had been speaking, he had continued to look at Lauren, now adding, “Well, you’re here, for a start, so that’s a good thing.”
“I’m not dead, you mean?” asked Lauren.
“Precisely,” said Josh.
Lauren wanted to know more. “So that other me, the one I keep dreaming about. The one Dan killed – did she really exist?”
“Yes,” replied Future Josh. “But none of that can harm you here.”
“And my dreams?” she asked.
“Just as you figured out, they are subconscious thoughts, drifting through from the other universe. I’ve discovered how to map those neural pathways and how to transfer minds between the worlds now. It’s fantastic, almost supernatural what can be done. But there’s no need to worry about any of that. You’re perfectly safe here, and now you know that, you may sleep a little easier at night.”
Mario returned, bringing Future Josh’s order, which he eagerly cut into the second it was in front of him. Raising his fork, he took a bite, making tiny rivulets of blood drip down his chin.
“Yep, that’s how I like it,” he said, “practically mooing. Any chance of another bottle of red here, Mario?” he asked. He was already halfway through the first bottle Mario had brought him.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Hannah who said, “I hope your future self is going to make a contribution to the bill,” to Josh.
“Of course I am,” said Future Josh, reaching into the pocket of his jeans for his wallet. He opened it up, pulled out some unusual-looking currency and handed a couple of fluorescent notes to Hannah.
“How much do you need? Probably not that much in this time, I would have thought, what with the inflation and all that?”
“What’s this supposed to be?” asked Hannah, examining the strange, glowing currency which bore no resemblance at all to the polymer banknotes in her purse.
“Oh yeah, these are virtual euros,” said Josh. “It saves on the printing costs. I forgot you don’t have them yet.”
“We don’t have the euro either,” said Hannah. “When did that happen?”
She looked at the face on the front of the note, which looked vaguely familiar. “And who’s President Ronaldo?”
Josh chuckled. “Oh you’ve still got all that to look forward to – and to think, you were once worried about Trump.”
“Well, I can’t give these to Mario, can I?” replied Hannah.
“Can’t he just pay by card?” suggested Kaylee.
“By card?” asked Future Josh, again chuckling. “How quaint! Cards went out with the ark. Even if I had one, it won’t be valid for another twenty-odd years. You could try asking Mario to scan my retina, but I doubt whether he’s got the equipment yet – if he ever does. This place is pretty old-fashioned, even by the standards of your time.”
“We like it that way,” said Hannah.
“I’m sure you do. Anyway, I shouldn’t have to pay,” said Future Josh. “I’m doing you all a huge favour coming here. And it’s not like any of you are on the breadline, is it?”
“He’s got a point,” said Charlie. “He has saved us having to spend any more time stressing out over the time bubble.”
“There you go then,” said Future Josh. “Get younger me here to cover it. He’s loaded. I should know. The university used to pay me a fortune to do three lectures a week and spend the rest of the time messing about in the lab. It’s a cushy little number, getting your feet under the table at Oxford, I can tell you.”
“Yeah, I’ll pay, but you’ll have to earn it,” said younger Josh.
“I thought I already had,” said Future Josh. “You’re paying with money I earned twenty-five years ago.”
“I mean you can give me some more info about how you learned to control the time bubbles,” said Josh.
“Like I said, I can’t tell you that, it’ll mess up this timeline,” said Future Josh. “Let’s just say you’ve got a lot of adventures ahead of you in the years to come. I’m quite envious really. I could quite happily do it all again – most of it anyway. But after this visit, my time-travelling days, in body at least, are over. Too many risks, as you’ll find out.”
“You said it was dangerous,” replied Josh.
“Don’t worry about it. I made it back – you will, too, if you’re careful. Just enjoy the ride and don’t forget about the cellar.”
“What about the cellar?” asked Josh.
“All will become clear in the fullness of time,” replied Future Josh, in a grandiose tone.
With his steak polished off, he drained the last of his red wine and stood up, announcing, “I ought to be off. The longer I stay here the more chance I have of contaminating your timeline. To be honest, I’ve probably said too much already.”
“Give me some clue, at least,” continued Josh. “Or at least tell me how long it will be until things start happening.”
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” replied Future Josh. “You’re going to spend most of the 2040s with your head down figuring it all out. I’m afraid all work and no play will make Josh a rather dull boy for the next few years.”
“Sounds great,” replied his younger self. “Not much to look forward to in the near future, then.”
“Be patient,” replied Future Josh. “Come the 50s – well, that’s when it’s all going to happen. Life’s going to get very exciting then. But that’s all I’m telling you for now. It’s been lovely seeing you all again, but high time I was heading back to 2065.”
Ignoring their protestations for him to stay longer, Future Josh stuck to his guns and left them to it, leaving the others to talk long into the night about the encounter they had just had.
By the time they all fell out of the restaurant, way past midnight, they had every reason to be grateful for their driverless cars.
Chapter Six
June 2055
Fifteen long years had passed since that night at the restaurant. During that time, the theories that had been discussed that landmark evening had turned out to be remarkably accurate.
With Alice’s help, Josh had stepped up his work, determined to unlock the secrets that his future self already knew. There was now no doubt that the other realities that Alice and Lauren had dreamt of did indeed exist, along with countless others. He was determined to find a way to traverse them.
By 2050 he had perfected the tachyometer, at least in terms of travelling in time, and was making regular trips. Whether or not he was the only time traveller in existence, he still did not know. What was certain was that he was creating alternate realities each time he travelled to the past.
How different were these other universes to the original? It all depended where he went, what he did, and who he interacted with when he went back to the past. Measuring the changes was rather like measuring earthquakes.
Any change he made in the past would have both an epicentre and a magnitude. The epicentre would be the exact location of whatever he was doing that might cause a change. The closer a person was to t
hat, the more likely that they would be caught up in any changes in the timeline.
The magnitude depended on the nature of what he was doing. Nipping back in time five minutes as an experiment in the lab would be barely noticeable, whereas something that was a matter of life and death could cause a seismic change with far-reaching consequences.
To measure the magnitude, he had devised an equivalent to the Richter scale, which he had egotistically called the Gardner scale. This ranged from zero – no effect whatsoever, to twelve, which would be something like killing Hitler while he was young.
He hadn’t attempted anything major like that and wasn’t planning to anytime soon. Most of his time-travelling so far had focused around Oxford and the nearby town he grew up in. It was here that the epicentres were created and where he imagined that the most differences would be found between the various universes.
How many universes were there altogether? It was impossible to say. He kept a diary of all his trips, so in theory he could keep count, but there was more to it than that, as he quickly realised.
Early on in his experiments, he and Alice had realised that a new universe was created not only when Josh travelled back in time, but also when he returned to the future. In effect, each trip back and forth created three universes.
How had they worked this out? Because when they had started experimenting, some strange things had happened.
Josh had tried making short trips back in time, altering trivial things without Alice’s knowledge, then returning to the future to see what difference it had made to the timeline.
One afternoon he went back in time to just before lunch, taking care to appear at an exact time when he would be unobserved. Without either Alice or his younger self seeing him, he swapped over a sandwich he had bought her for lunch. Originally he had got her cheese and salad, but now he substituted it for tuna instead.
When he jumped back to the afternoon, he quizzed her about lunch. She had no recollection of the original cheese sandwich, recalling instead that she had eaten tuna. But his memories of her eating the cheese sandwich were intact.
