Time Ship (Book One): A Time Travel Romantic Adventure: The ideal Beach Book for reading on Holiday!
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Time Ship
(Book One):
A Time Travel Romantic Adventure
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By
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IAN C.P. IRVINE
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Published by Ian C. P. Irvine
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Copyright 2013 IAN C.P. IRVINE
Cover Design by Ray Luck
raymondoluck@hotmail.com
The new exciting adventure novel for grown-ups and teenagers where 'The Perfect Storm' meets 'The Philadelphia Experiment' meets 'Pirates of the Caribbean' meets 'Contagion'.
For my friends Brian Patterson, Rudiger Rohloff and Jerome Connor.
Absent but never forgotten. I miss you.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright observed above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Please note: This is the first book in a two part series. The story begins with Time Ship (Book One) and carries on seamlessly and concludes with Time Ship (Book Two): Time Ship (Book Two)
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Alternatively, you will have the option to purchase an Omnibus version containing both Book One and Book Two, which readers are recommended to purchase: 'Time Ship ' (Omnibus Edition containing Book One and Book Two)
Other Books by Ian C.P. Irvine
Haunted From Within
Haunted From Without
TIME SHIP
The Orlando File: A Genetic Conspiracy Thriller.
The Messiah Conspiracy
London 2012 : What If?
The Sleeping Truth : A Romantic Medical Thriller
Alex Meets Wiziwam the Wizard
Table Of Contents
Click Here to go to Table of Contents
Please note: This is the first book in a two part series. The story begins with Time Ship (Book One) and carries on seamlessly and concludes with: Time Ship (Book Two)
Alternatively, you will have the option to purchase an Omnibus version containing both Book One and Book Two, which readers are recommended to purchase: 'Time Ship ' (Omnibus Edition containing Book One and Book Two)
Chapter 1
Bush Center for Geo-Electromagnetic Studies
New York
Sunday 5.55 p.m.
Once every six hundred years. The odds weren't exactly in Derek's favour.
Although that didn't stop the U.S. Defense Department from taking only three months to approve $5 billion for the project's initial funding. Enough and more to build the Bush Center for Geo-Electromagnetic Studies in New York, and to fill it with the latest technology that money could buy.
Derek, or Professor Derek James Martin, as the sign on his office door read, picked up the carton of Chinese take-away, and kicked back in his chair, slowly devouring his Sweet and Sour Chicken, whilst simultaneously scanning the incredible arrays of sensors and computer screens spread across every inch of the surrounding walls. With the lights off, he sat in the semi-darkness, lit only by the myriad of glowing screens, the flickering stream of incomprehensible numbers and pictures casting an ever-changing set of shadows and colored light across Derek's face.
He hadn't left the office now for three days, and the smell of stale sweat, Chinese takeaway and old pizza had long since scared off even the most die hardy of the institute's cleaners. Whenever he felt hungry drinks and food arrived at his door magically, simply by dialing a few digits on his phone and telling the department secretary what he wanted.
The risk of leaving, and coming back to find that he had missed the event of the millennium was far too great. If this was going to be 'the one', he was damn well going to make sure his team captured the event in all its glory. All the equipment was primed and ready to go, two ships and five aircraft had been redirected to the area, and he'd borrowed time on two of NASA's satellites, which should be in position in the next few hours. He already had one of the military's satellites scanning the area, it's high resolution cameras capturing every microsecond of what was happening forty miles below.
The center had been operational for two years now, had over twenty Ph.D.'s, and a staff of thirty junior researchers, mostly recruited from the army or on secondment from other government agencies.
As from yesterday, they'd all been working round the clock. Everything was ready. If it happened just as Derek predicted, it would only last a few minutes, maybe even seconds, but more than likely they would spend the rest of their lives analyzing what they saw and recorded.
If it happened.
The green phone on the desk rang, and Derek took the spoon out of his mouth and spoke aloud,
"Phone answer. Derek here."
There was a small beep, and the voice recognition system answered the call, and piped the voice on the other end onto the loudspeaker without Derek moving.
"Derek, are you watching the G-V-scope?"
"Hey Mick, sure thing. I've got in on Screen Two, and I'm just watching a live video feed that I'm getting back from the Stormchaser flying around the epicenter. It looks like it's starting. It's large okay. It's going to be bigger than '84, that's for sure."
"Do you think this could be the one?"
"Too early to say, but it's looking promising…"
There was a high pitched beeping sound, and one of the high-density printers in the corner started spewing out some color images.
"Hey, Mick, the pictures from the satellite are just coming in. Why don't you pop down to my office. I could do with a second opinion."
A couple of minutes later Mick Samuels walked through the door, flicking on the lights before making his way around the large desk and standing behind Derek, peering over his shoulder at the pile of photos on the table.
"Bloody hell, Derek, it stinks in here!"
Derek ignored his protests as he spread out the photographs for them both to study.
Mick bent forward and whistled, his eyes quickly scanning the graphics and assimilating the information.
"It's huge. Forget Hurricane Donna in 1960. This one's even bigger than Andrew in '92 and Katrina in 2005."
Derek pushed back with both hands from the edge of the desk, propelling his chair on its wheels across the floor to the far wall, where he hit a couple of buttons on a computer console, and ripped off a read-out after it was printed.
"Take a look at that!" he said, giving Mick the computer printout. "The Gauss readings have just gone off the scale!"
Derek walked across the room to the window, staring out at the black night.
"Any idea what time it is?"
"It's six o'clock."
"Evening or morning?"
"Evening."
"How's the evacuation going?"
"Don't
worry Derek. It's all done. We're clean. There's no ships left in the area, apart from ours. They arrived just over an hour ago. Southern Florida and the islands around the storm center are on alert, but if you're right, they'll blow themselves out, way before they hit land."
"They won't hit land. Now the Gauss readings have come in, it seems there's a good chance it's going to be exactly what we predicted. It looks like this could be 'the one' we've been waiting for. When these four storms collide, they'll combine to produce the biggest electrical storm in a thousand years! Hurricane Josephine will just miss Jamaica, and collide with Hurricane Kyle, and then almost immediately afterwards they'll both smash into Hanna and then Isaias coming from the north and the south. When they meet, all the energy from the four storms will be driven towards a common epicenter, combining into one massive cauldron of raw power. Their energies will be warped together, and their incredible power will be focused onto the collision center. In such a small space, the internal energy of the storms will only have one escape route: inward, in on itself. The kinetic and geothermal energy of the storms will be transformed to electromagnetic energy, and the atmosphere will shatter. One moment it'll be like Armageddon, and then a few minutes later, it'll all be over. It'll be as quiet as a duck-pond. All that energy will be gone! But where to? That's what we have to find out!"
"Relax! If we've prepared for this correctly, we'll know soon enough." Mick replied, getting up to leave, and patting Derek reassuringly on the back.
"And if we haven't? Can you wait another six hundred years?"
"Only if I get paid overtime…Seriously though, the speed these things are moving, they'll collide in six hours. We've not got much time left. I'd better do the rounds, and double check everyone's ready."
"Remember Mick, we only have one shot at this, so make sure we do it right."
Chapter 2
The Sea Dancer
Captain McGregor's Pirate Ship
AD 1699
Sunday
8 p.m.
“Turn her into the wind! Now! Afore we're blown broadside into the Eagle! She's sinking, and there's nowt we can do about it now!" Captain Rob shouted as loud as he could, trying to make himself heard above the roar of the storm. "There's no chance in hell of picking up any survivors in these waters. We'll have to leave them all behind."
Nobody argued. Captain Rob McGregor could see the fear written all over their faces. Not a man in his crew had ever seen a storm like this before, and none of them wanted to die. The fact that they had managed to save a handful of men from the Royal Thistle before it went down an hour ago had been a miracle in itself, but the experience was still fresh in their minds, and with three boats already claimed by Davey Jones' Locker, no one wanted to make it four.
The Sea Dancer rocked violently and sunk down deep into the depths of a massive hole that seemed to appear from nowhere in the ocean as two massive waves collided and passed each other going in different directions.
Captain Rob was scared. He had spent almost all of his life at sea, and he could never recall a sea or a storm like this before. The wave movements made no sense to him: it was proving almost impossible to judge how to navigate in these waters. Instead of one ocean, it seemed like they were riding the waves of two or three seas which were all heading in different directions, each fighting for dominance. Giant waves roared up from nowhere, towering above them, and then crashed down on their deck, sweeping everything before them.
Only minutes ago in the failing light and between sheets of driving rain, Captain Rob had seen the third ship in his fleet, the Eagle, riding up over the top of one large wave, just as a second wave collided and crashed into it broadside from another direction.
The force of the water had pushed the Eagle over, and within seconds it was on its side. As the waves passed by, it left the Eagle and its crew floundering in the water.
Most boats would normally float for long enough to let some of the crew get out, but with the weight of its heavy cargo dragging it down, Rob knew that this time there would be no chance.
The Eagle was doomed.
In seconds it would be gone.
Both ships had gone down within a few hundred yards of each other. First to sink had been the Royal Thistle, as they sheltered in the lee of Black Rock, a small volcanic island where they had sought refuge after their raid on Captain Kidd's lair. They had dropped anchor just off Sharp's Point, and Captain Rob had issued a measure of grog for everyone on all three ships in way of celebration for the success of the raid, with a promise of more when they made harbor. But a few hours before nightfall, a tremendous storm had blown up out of nowhere, and with no natural harbor where they could ride it out, they had been forced to weigh anchor, run with the wind and head for deeper water. Unfortunately, the arrival of the storm was so fast, that surging seas had forced the Thistle onto the rocks and she had been ripped open and sunk before they had been able to launch their boats and recover any of its cargo. It had gone down with all hands and a quarter of the booty from the raid.
At first the Thistle and the Sea Dancer had hoped to round the island and find new shelter from the storm on the other side, but the sea was even rougher there than where the Thistle went down. The risk of being driven onto the rocks was still just as great there as before, so in desperation they had started out away from the island making for deep water. They had only managed to get about a thousand yards when the Eagle had been sunk. Davey Jones had claimed another quarter of the remaining treasure they had stolen from Kidd's drunken rabble earlier that day.
Captain Rob gripped the tiller with all his strength, hanging on for dear life as another wave crashed onto the sterncastle from behind him. He was a tall man, broad across the shoulders and strong. The wave pushed him against the massive oak tiller in the middle of the quarterdeck, driving the wind out of his lungs and sweeping him off his feet.
Thankfully, the rope that he had tied around his waist and attached to the tiller held, and after the wave had passed by he managed to struggle back up to his feet, coughing the salt water out of his throat and gasping for breath.
He reached down, offering his hand to James Silver, the quartermaster, who like Captain Rob, had been knocked to the ground by the force of the wave.
James Silver spat water from his mouth, and pushed Rob's hand aside, pulling himself up alone.
"Thanking ye kindly, Captain Rob, but I can manage on me own, just fine."
Suddenly there was a loud, earth shattering crack, and as the quartermaster and Captain Rob looked up, the front mast split in half at the middle, and fell forward toward the deck.
At the same moment, a swell pushed the Sea Dancer upwards, and the remaining sails which they had not yet managed to furl away and had been forced to just let fly freely, caught a large blast of wind bouncing of the tumultuous surface of the ocean, filled completely, and started turning the ship around and changing its course. While the body of the ship swiveled underneath it, the front mast fell towards the side of the boat, dragging its top sails down with it.
As the weight of the mast and the sails pulled it downwards, the ropes and guides holding the sails upwards and attached to the ship beneath, suddenly tightened, stretched and started to snap, whiplashing wildly across the deck.
Too late, the quartermaster shouted out a warning to the deck crew, his cries drowned in the roar of the storm: "Smith,... the rigging lines...watch out!"
Captain Rob and the quartermaster looked on helplessly as one of the lines cut through the air at great speed, slicing clean through the leg of the Miles Smith, the young boatswain, amputating it from the middle of his thigh downwards.
The young lad screamed, his cry of pain cutting through the cacophony of the storm, and alarming even the most hardy and battle-hardened of the pirates on board.
As Smith looked down at the stump of his leg, his grip loosened on the base of the mast to which he has hanging for dear life, and the force of a receding wave swept his remaining leg away from u
nder him, pushing his body towards the side of the Sea Dancer, catapulting him over the edge, and into the boiling cauldron of the ocean beneath.
One moment he was there, a second later he was gone. As was the rest of the mast which had now vanished over the side.
The quartermaster turned and stared horrified at Captain Rob, his expression and his eyes conveying everything that needed to be said.
They had used the wind to drive them away from clutches of the Black Rock. Ideally, in a storm, once they had reached deeper water far from land, they would turn into the wind to reduce the pressure on the sails, and furl away most of the canvas. But such was the speed with which the storm had intensified and come upon them that they had been unable to do this.
Within minutes of clearing the Black Rock, the wind had begun to come at them in great gusts from all directions. Unable to stow the sails properly, they only managed to loosen the sheet lines and let the sheets flap uselessly in the wind.
Even in a storm, it was necessary to maintain a small amount of canvas, so that the Captain could have some control where the ship was blown. With that in mind, they had kept one sail partially filled with wind. But now, the loosely hanging top sail on the remaining mast was suddenly caught by another powerful gust of wind, whipping it outwards and then ripping it loudly from top to bottom.
With no other sails set, and the last vestige of their control gone, the Sea Dancer and its crew were now nothing more than flotsam being buffeted violently amidst the roughest waters any sailor had ever experienced in this century, the last, or any one before that.
Only a miracle could save them now.
Chapter 3
Stormchaser 3
10,000 ft above the Atlantic Ocean