by Jason Ayres
“I didn’t want to be here anyway”, retorted Dan. He picked up his things, shoved them into his bag, flung it over his shoulder and stormed out of the room.
After that the lesson proceeded without incident, though it was far from being the most illuminating class he had ever had. Peter’s deflated feeling showed in his lack of enthusiasm, and in the end he just got them to read a couple of chapters of Brave New World while he pretended to be working on some marking.
In reality he was just clicking his pen on and off over and over again. As he was doing it he was gazing out of the window at the English countryside beyond, glumly wondering how much time he had left to enjoy it.
One of the worst things about the possibility of dying was that he’d never get to see the future. He’d seen huge changes during his lifetime. He lived in an incredible technological era now, compared to his childhood.
He remembered back in the 1970s when he first saw a digital watch and a pocket calculator. Such things seemed amazingly futuristic to his youthful eyes back then. When he got his ZX Spectrum for Christmas back in 1983, he thought that it was the pinnacle of modern technology and could never be bettered.
And here he was, more than thirty years later, surrounded by gadgets, games and technology which made those heady 1980s Spectrum days seem like the Stone Age.
What would things be like in another three or four decades? It was unimaginable. And the way things were going it looked like he wasn’t going to be around to find out.
Gloomily he looked out at the sunshine and the golden autumn-tinged trees and wondered if he’d even see another summer.
It was nearly 12.30 when Josh nudged Charlie’s arm and said, “Do you think we still ought to speak to him? He doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood.”
“No – you’re right, he doesn’t. That was so funny before, though”, he said. He was still chuckling about Dan’s unceremonious eviction.
“I still think we should talk to him”, said Josh. “If he tells us to get lost we’re no worse off than we were before, are we?”
“OK”, said Charlie. “It’s nearly 12.30.”
Sure enough, Peter looked up and said “Right, that’s it for today. If you haven’t finished Chapter Eight, please can you do so before Friday and we’ll discuss it then.”
Lauren and Kaylee got up quickly, heading over to where Charlie and Josh were sitting. “Coming to lunch?” asked Lauren chirpily.
“In a minute”, replied Josh. “We just need to have a word with Mr Grant first.”
“What about?” asked Lauren. It wasn’t like Josh to hang around to talk to a teacher. The only person who usually beat him to the front of the lunch queue was Dan.
“Oh nothing you’d be interested in”, replied Josh, thinking quickly. “It’s to do with a sci-fi convention.” That ought to do the trick, thought Josh. The girls weren’t into that sort of thing.
“Geek!” exclaimed Lauren. “I expect we’ll see you in the canteen after, then. Come on Kaylee.”
Kaylee hoped they wouldn’t be too long. It did seem a little odd. She wondered momentarily if he was trying to avoid her, but as she turned to leave he caught her eye and gave her a reassuring smile. There was no need to worry. She could catch up with him later. Happily, she followed Lauren out of the room.
Josh and Charlie headed over to the front desk where Peter was still sitting. Josh spoke first. “Can we have a word, sir?”
Getting rid of Dan from the room plus an hour gazing out of the window had calmed Peter down enough to be receptive.
“Sure, what is it?” he asked.
“Well it’s a bit difficult”, said Charlie, unsure of how to best go about this.
Peter wondered what on earth they were going to ask him. Please let it not be advice about girls. He knew that Charlie’s father had walked out on his mother a couple of years ago, leaving him without a father figure.
No – it couldn’t be that. Especially with Josh in tow who seemed to be a bit of a lad on that front. He certainly wouldn’t need any advice. In fact, Peter thought ruefully, Josh could probably advise him.
“Go on”, he replied.
Charlie seemed lost for words so Josh took the bull by the horns. “Well, sir, it’s to do with time travel.”
Peter brightened up considerably at this. It was unashamedly one of his favourite subjects. Perhaps they wanted to discuss the new series which had started the previous weekend. Now there was something he could talk about for hours. It might even take his mind off things.
“Ask away”, he said. “What do you want to know?”
“Well. Do you think it is actually possible?” asked Josh.
Peter was being handed an open invitation to wax lyrical on his favourite subject and he wasn’t going to waste it. There had been precious few opportunities since his wife left.
In fact, if he was being brutally honest, it hadn’t really been worth attempting to talk about it. To say she was not as keen as he was on his obsession would have been an understatement.
A few years ago he had hit on the really cool idea of watching every episode of Doctor Who from 1963 to the present day, one episode per evening. He was even including the old black and white episodes that had been wiped by the BBC. He had these on audio soundtracks taped from the telly on ancient tape recorders.
He thought it might bring them closer together, but not long after that she started going out more and more in the evenings. Then one day she was gone. She had run off with his best friend who, to his knowledge, did not have a single sci-fi DVD in his collection. It was all very unjust.
As these unpleasant memories flashed through his mind all he could think of was “sod her.” She may not have been interested but these boys clearly were, so he’d make the most of it. He had hardly had any sort of conversation outside of the classroom for weeks and welcomed this opportunity.
He cleared his throat and began. “Theoretically it is possible, but practically it isn’t. The general consensus is that you would have to travel faster than light to achieve it, which is not possible by any feasible means that we are currently capable of.”
“Do you think it will be possible in the future?” asked Charlie.
“If it was, wouldn’t people from the future have come back to visit us by now?” added Josh.
“Ah, you’ve stumbled across one of the many paradoxes that thinking about time travel can create. The theory is that people from the future haven’t come back to visit us yet, because time travel hasn’t been invented yet, so they can’t come back yet. The more you think about it, the more your head starts to go round in circles. And that’s not the only thing. You’ve then got the whole debate about changing history and the so-called grandfather paradoxes. I’m sure you’ve seen Back to the Future, haven’t you?”
“Yes”, they chorused. Despite being old, the films were still shown on a regular basis on TV during the Christmas holidays. They both knew them by heart.
“Well, those movies explain it quite well. If time travel were possible and people were going back in time, everything would be changing all the time like it did in those films.”
“But would we notice?” asked Charlie. “In every time travel film I’ve seen where history gets changed, nobody notices. Everything changes, including the memories of all the people who all accept the changed world as if it were normal.”
“If that were true”, replied Peter, “then there would be little point to anything we ever do. I am pretty confident that the reality we see around us today is the same one we’ve always had. Much as I’d like to believe in the possibility of travelling back in time, I think we have to conclude that it isn’t possible.”
“What about travelling forwards in time?” asked Josh, steering the conversation in the direction they wanted it to go.
“Again, there are issues, but at least you don’t have to deal with the whole grandfather paradox thing. I’ve read about some experiments with tachyon particles recently. They’ve ma
naged to project them forward in time using a method where they warp the space around them.”
“That sounds interesting”, said Charlie. Perhaps now they were getting somewhere. “How does that work exactly?”
“It’s based on a theory that if you can bend space/time you can get from one point to another instantaneously. The easiest way to demonstrate it is like this.”
He took a sheet of A4 paper. “Now, how far is it from one end of this piece of paper to the other?” he asked.
“It’s however long the piece of paper is. About 30 centimetres or so”, replied Charlie.
“Right”, said Peter, and folded the paper in half. “How far is it now?”
“It’s still 30cm”, said Josh.
“Yes, but the two ends are touching now. So in theory it’s no distance at all, is it?”
“I see what he’s getting at”, said Charlie. In fact it fitted what they knew of the Time Bubble pretty well.
“Precisely”, said Peter. “Now if you could bend space and time in that way, and that paper was 30 years, rather than 30cm, then you could jump forward those 30 years in an instant.”
“So you’re saying it can be done?” asked Charlie.
“Like I said before, theoretically yes, but practically no. There are all sorts of implications to do with gravity and energy. Demonstrating it with a tachyon particle is one thing, but attempting to do it with a human being is quite another. It would involve forces that no human body could survive. Creating the required conditions would involve gravitational forces so huge that your body would be crushed to something extremely dense about the size of an atom. It’s pretty much the equivalent of being sucked into a black hole.”
Charlie thought about what he’d said and decided that it was now or never if he was going to try and convince his teacher of the existence of the Time Bubble. He took the plunge.
“What if we told you that we think someone has already discovered a way to do it?” asked Charlie. “And we can show you how it’s done?”
Peter thought about it. “Well, I would assume it was probably a student wind-up. But I’d still be intrigued to hear what you’d dreamt up.”
“Well…it’s like this”, said Charlie, and he and Josh began the long process of telling Peter all about the Time Bubble.
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Whilst Josh and Charlie were attempting to convince Peter of the existence of the Time Bubble, Kaylee and Lauren were sitting in the canteen. They had already started on their lunch.
It was quite a pleasant place, more reminiscent of a modern office café than a traditional school canteen. It had undergone a complete refurbishment over the past year and the catering had been given to outside contractors. This had led to a significant improvement in quality, but invariably prices had gone up to match.
There were plenty of new healthy options available, from freshly prepared sandwiches to a salad bar. Most of the students still chose the hot options, though, which amounted to a choice of things with chips.
Kaylee was an exception. She was proud of her figure and looked after it. She was munching on a chicken and salad baguette. Lauren had gone for a burger and chips. Although she was slightly chubby in the face, Lauren wasn’t overweight. She seemed to be one of those people who could get away with eating whatever she liked without putting on weight.
They had been sitting at the table for almost fifteen minutes and there was no sign of the boys. Kaylee was beginning to feel a little nervous. Like most people at the start of a new relationship, she felt insecure, worrying that it might not happen after all.
“Where have Charlie and Josh got to?” she asked. “I thought they would be here by now.”
“They’ve probably just got chatting”, replied Lauren. “Don’t worry.”
“You don’t think he’s gone off me, do you? Last night was so wonderful. I couldn’t bear it if he let me down after all this.”
“He’d be mad if he did!” exclaimed Lauren. “And besides, he’d have me to answer to. No one messes about with my Kaylee!”
Kaylee felt slightly reassured by this. Lauren always had a way of helping to pick her up when she felt down. However, her relief was short-lived. Neither of them had noticed Dan sit down at the table behind them while they were talking. He decided it was now time to chip in.
“If he does, I’ll sort you out”, he said. “I don’t know what you see in that loser anyway. You’d be much better off with me.”
Lauren had had just about enough of Dan and rounded on him, all guns blazing.
“The only thing you’re going to be getting is a kick in the bollocks. We – and I speak for pretty much everyone in Year 12 here are sick and tired of your nasty, pathetic remarks. Now why don’t you do us all a favour and just fuck off?”
It had gone quiet all around them as she ranted. Everyone at the nearby tables was looking. Dan looked rather taken aback. He might have faced off against Peter in the English class with ease, but being taken down a peg or two by Lauren was a different matter altogether. He felt hurt and humiliated, and knew the blood would be rushing to his cheeks.
He got up and started to walk away. He couldn’t resist turning and making one parting shot. “You’re going to pay for that. All of you.”
“Ooh, I’m scared”, said Lauren, sarcastically.
Dan walked away angrily. Everyone was against him, it seemed. Well he’d find a way of getting his own back on them – sooner or later. With dark thoughts in his mind, he headed back to the common room to find solace in his beloved vending machines.
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Still in the classroom, Josh and Charlie had finished describing their experiences with the Time Bubble so far. Peter didn’t really believe a word of it, but had to admit they had told a pretty convincing tale.
“You should write all of this down”, he said. ”It would make a very good story. You could even submit it as an essay as part of your coursework. If you write it as well as you just explained it to me, I’ll give you a good mark.”
“So you don’t believe us then? It’s not a story, it’s all true”, replied Josh.
“I think you’ve told a very convincing tale and you’ve got a very vivid imagination”, replied Peter. “But realistically, put yourself in my shoes. You can’t expect me to blindly believe such a fantastic tale, no matter how much I’d like to.”
“We’ll prove it to you”, suggested Charlie, eagerly. “Come with us to the tunnel after school and we’ll show you.”
“I’m really not sure I should be going anywhere with you after school”, replied Peter, remembering the rumours about another teacher a couple of years ago who, in all innocence, had been giving a girl who lived in the same street as him a lift home.
Then again it would be amazing if what they were saying was true. Perhaps he should indulge them. After all, what did he have to lose? Against his better judgement, he found himself agreeing.
“Alright, then. After school, I’ll take a look. But that’s as far as it goes. And we’re not leaving school together. Meet me at the entrance to the tunnel about 4pm.”
“We’ll be there”, said Charlie. He felt glad they had told Mr Grant. It had shifted some of the weight of the responsibility away from his shoulders. He was a responsible adult. Once he’d seen the Time Bubble in action, surely he would know what to do.
“We’d better go and get some lunch before Dan cleans out the canteen”, said Josh.
Charlie glanced at his watch. Half an hour had passed. Kaylee would be wondering where he was.
“4pm then, sir? You’ll definitely be there?”
“I’ll be there”, replied Peter.
Chapter Eleven
Peter walked along the tree-lined High Street, the leaves rustling around his feet. The day had turned very windy and the bright sunshine of the morning was long gone, replaced by dark, threatening clouds.
A couple of small children walking in front of him with their mother w
ere kicking around in the leaves and laughing. Not for the first time Peter felt an empty feeling at having no kids of his own.
The ground was littered with conkers. Plenty of older kids were milling about but they didn’t seem interested in them at all. Were kids not into conkers anymore, he wondered. At his age he’d have been greedily scooping up as many as he could get his hands on.
At the end of the High Street he turned left into a residential street that led towards the tunnel. He wasn’t really sure why he was doing this at all. He was half-expecting to find a lot of students there taking the piss out of him, but it wasn’t April Fools’ Day.
The real reason he was going was that there had been something in Charlie and Josh’s earnestness that had made him think that just maybe there might be something in this. With all that had happened to him, he desperately needed something to believe in, even something as far-fetched as this.
Even if it wasn’t some sort of time portal, there might be some other perfectly rational explanation. So he walked on, past the end of the houses and off the main road to take the footpath that led to the tunnel. Metal railings ran parallel to the footpath, behind which were bushes, weeds and litter.
Most people walking past didn’t even notice the lager cans, fast-food cartons and empty condom wrappers anymore. They were so used to seeing them day after day that they had become part of the scenery, but Peter did notice and it annoyed him.
The boys were already waiting for him by the tunnel entrance. He was relieved to see that there wasn’t anyone else with them. There was nobody else around at all, come to that, so at least he’d be spared any excessive embarrassment if this did turn out to be some huge practical joke.
“Thanks for coming, sir”, said Charlie.
“To be honest, I’m not even sure why I have, but what you said intrigued me. So – come on then, where is this so-called Time Bubble?” he asked. There was an obvious note of scepticism in his voice. He didn’t want to give away that he might believe in it and end up looking foolish.
