by Jason Ayres
“So does that mean that you and I are both dead in that other universe?” asked Lauren.
“I would say they were probably two different universes, both created by two separate time travel events,” said Josh. “We’ve no idea how an older version of Dan got there, but since he’s dead in our universe we can hardly ask him, now or in the future. I guess we can only conclude that in your other version of reality he didn’t die – you did.”
“We don’t really know what happened, this is all supposition,” said Charlie. “We are theorising all this from Lauren and Alice’s dreams – and they could be just that, regardless of how real they feel to them.”
“They are real,” insisted Alice. “I really feel like I am there when I sleep.”
“Well, let’s say for the sake of argument they are real,” replied Josh. “There are all manner of other unanswered questions that raises.”
“Such as?” asked Charlie.
“OK, how about this? If I go back in time, when I return to the future, do I go back to the new universe I’ve just created or the one I came from? And can I control that? Alice and I are trying to create our own time bubbles, ones that we can control in the hope of answering these questions. Progress is slow, but I’m confident we’ll get there in the end. I’m certain we will. How else did I show up in that helicopter to rescue Alice?”
“That could still have been a Josh from another universe,” replied Charlie.
“Well, if that Josh figured it out, I’m damned sure I can, too,” said Josh.
The conversation could have gone on forever, but was interrupted as Mario returned with their main courses.
“So, I have one Filletto Mario, medium to well done,” he announced.
“That’s mine,” said Charlie, his eyes lighting up at the massive steak and chips as it was placed in front of him.
“And one Filletto Mario, rare, with chips and no salad.”
“That’ll be mine,” said Josh. “This is how you should have it, Charlie…oozing with blood.”
“Still not eating your greens, then, Josh?” commented Kaylee, who was a bit of a health freak when it came to food.
“Nope,” said Josh. “I’ve managed to survive this long without them. And I didn’t get this clever eating rabbit food.”
Once again, Josh’s teenage show-off persona had resurfaced. Recoiling at the sight of the oozing steak, vegetarian Kaylee turned her attention back to Mario to claim the pasta salad he had just brought out.
As they tucked in, Hannah decided it was time to bring up the main subject they had come here to discuss.
“Much as I’ve enjoyed all this time travel theory,” she began, “there’s something important we need to discuss. As you all know, today is Peter’s 70th birthday, at least chronologically, so I’d like to propose a toast to him and wish him happy birthday.”
“To Peter,” they chorused, as they raised their glasses, clinking them together. Lauren, who had already had three double vodkas during the lengthy conversation, had become rather tipsy and spilt some of hers.
“Oops,” she said, giggling, as Hannah continued.
“It’s a very special birthday, not just because it is his 70th, but also because it is the last one he will be spending away from us. As you all know, on March 30th next year, he will finally be emerging from the time bubble. The good news is, his leukaemia can now be easily cured. The bad news is, we’ve now got the worry of what to do about the time bubble again.”
“You mean, who’s going to take his place?” asked Charlie.
“Exactly,” said Hannah. “And we’re talking a serious time away for whoever goes in this time. How long is it exactly, Josh? I’m sure you know down to the exact second.”
“22 years, five months and five days,” replied Josh. “Whoever goes in won’t emerge until September 2063. You’re right, it’s a big problem. Someone’s got to replace Peter.”
“You’re not suggesting one of us volunteer, surely?” asked Kaylee.
“Yeah, it’s not like it’s our responsibility, is it?” added Lauren. “We didn’t create the time bubble.”
“Are you are sure about that?” asked Josh. “How do you know I didn’t end up creating it myself sometime in the past during one of my time travel experiments.”
“Yes, but we don’t know that,” said Jess, deciding it was time she had her say. “Look at it from my point of view. I’ve had to grow up without my father for almost my entire life because of that time bubble. You can’t seriously be asking anyone here to make a similar sacrifice. It’s not fair.”
“Jess, if it wasn’t for the time bubble, your father would have died over twenty years ago and in all likelihood, you would never have been born,” said Hannah. “I know more than anyone how hard it has been living without him, but I’ve done it because I know he’s coming home and most importantly that he can be cured. The time bubble has been a blessing for us, not a curse, and that leaves us with a certain degree of responsibility.”
“I understand all that,” said Jess. “But you still can’t expect anyone else here to go through what we have. We’re done with the time bubble now: let’s get on with our lives and let someone else worry about it.”
“So you’re suggesting we just collect Peter and leave the time bubble open for whoever is unlucky enough to wander that way next?” said Charlie. “We can’t do that. What if some kid falls in and disappears for 22 years? What’s that going to do to his or her family? We’ve been through all this before when Kaylee disappeared and that was only for two days.”
“And look how much grief that caused,” added Hannah.
“Tell me about it,” said Charlie. “Your old boss, Kent, hauled me in and gave me a right grilling.”
“Yes, well, he had a habit of barking up the wrong tree when it came to things like that,” said Hannah. “That debacle was pretty much the last straw as far as his policing career went.”
Mention of Kent reminded Lauren of her surprise encounter earlier that day.
“Speaking of which, he’s back,” she said. “He turned up this morning at the pub, completely out of the blue. I thought I’d seen a ghost at first. He’s coming back to help me run the place again. We’ve agreed to a partnership, though I’m going to be in charge.”
“Great,” said Charlie sarcastically. “Remind me not to come down for a drink anytime soon. I’ve had enough of that clown to last me a lifetime.”
“Much as I’d love to reminisce about the shortcomings of my old boss,” said Hannah impatiently, “we still haven’t worked out what we are going to do about the time bubble.”
“Well, we can’t just leave it to randomly swallow somebody up,” said Kaylee. “Surely we are all agreed on that.”
“Yes, but what other options do we have?” asked Charlie. “Brick it up again like we did before? That was fine for keeping people out for a week, but twenty-two years?”
“Maybe we should inform the authorities?” suggested Jess.
“Like who, exactly?” replied Charlie sarcastically. “The police? What do you think, Hannah.”
“I can tell you now, I wouldn’t bother,” replied Hannah. “You’d just be laughed at.”
“What about the Government or secret service?” asked Jess. “They must have a department set up for this sort of thing?”
“I think you’ve been watching too many movies,” said Charlie.
“Whether they do or not, the last thing we want to do is draw attention to ourselves,” replied Josh. “What if someone else out there does know about the time bubbles and doesn’t want anyone else knowing? Before we know it we could find ourselves being silenced – permanently.”
“Who’s been watching too many movies now?” asked Jess. “You’re all being so negative. How about we put an advert online offering a free trip to the future for anyone who’s interested? There must be plenty of people around who wouldn’t mind disappearing for twenty-two years.”
“Who in their right minds
is going to take an advert like that seriously?” replied Josh.
“You’d be surprised,” she replied. “I was at college with plenty of geeky sci-fi types who believe in this sort of thing.”
“Nutters probably,” said Josh. “And that could attract unwanted attention, too.”
“Well, whatever, then,” replied Jess huffily. “I’m out of ideas.”
Charlie was getting impatient with all of this and decided to come to the point. “Come on, Josh, stop beating around the bush, you’re bound to have an answer, you always do. What’s your solution to all of this?”
“I do have a suggestion, as a matter of fact,” said Josh.
“Which is?” asked Hannah. Everyone was leaning forward, intently, ready for Josh’s latest words of wisdom.
“I suggest we do nothing at all,” he pronounced.
“Brilliant,” said Charlie. “So we do just leave fate to take its course, then?”
“Let me clarify,” said Josh. “I mean we do nothing yet. We allow things to play out and allow a random person to fall into the bubble. Then, when they emerge in 2063, I will be waiting to send them back to 2041. Problem solved and the bubble is safe for another twenty-two years.”
“How exactly are you going to send them back?” asked Charlie.
“Well, that’s the beauty of it,” said Josh. “I haven’t a clue right now. But we know I’m going to find out how to time travel in the future and well before 2063. I’ll be over sixty by then and I wasn’t that old when I rescued Alice in the helicopter.”
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.
“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.”
