Prologue
John just stood there. "Did you get what I'm saying? You're fired! Now get lost." "B-but... I can still-" "No, you can't. You've had your chance. You blew it. Now get out of my sight! Before I lose my patience!" John's boss was terribly mad at John; ever since he started having weird dreams his job got worse. And now he lost it. But what's he going to do now? He didn't really know. Maybe he'll just relax for a month, and see what happens when it's over. It's november, so why not?
"... John. John. John! Hey, buddy, you 'wake?" The letters before the eyes of John began to fade, and he was back in the courtroom. "You're s'pposed to be defendin' me, remember?" John was astounded. Was it all just a bad dream? Was he still a lawyer? "Hey! Stay awake, please!" "Y-yeah... sure... who're you again?" John asked cautiously. "Me? You know me. I'm the chieftain of them Space Pirates. You'd defend me in law, they said. Name's Nicholas Hubertson by the way. Why, you've forgotten?" "I... I don't know..." "Silence in court!" The jury hammered his hammer on the table, but instead of knocking, John just heard a faint beeping noice...
He was awake. Everything. A dream. But what should he do now? He wasn't a lawyer anymore, that was clear. Then... relaxing a month was a good idea. Why not.
John stood up and started his usual morning routine. Water in the water boiler for some tea, eggs in the frying pan and some pieces of apple pie from yesterday to finish. He ate quietly and read the newspaper, trying to forget the nightmares he had. It didn't work, however. But it made his mind somewhat more relaxed.
After that he started to watch some TV, but he quickly turned it off when he found out that there wasn't anything interesting on it. He sighed and tried to forget the nightmares again, but it was too hard to forget because it was too fixed on his mind.
He sighed again, took his jacket from the wardrobe, and walked out of his apartment after he closed the door to walk in the park nearby. Hyde Park, one of the larger parks of London, was quite beautiful this time of year. The fall coloured the leaves of the trees in gorgeous red and orange. John felt almost immediately relieved. He lay down in the grass, emptied his mind and began to sleep again. Luckily, his dreams were a tad more normal this time.
Around an hour later, he woke up when his cellphone rang. John answered, and through the spreakers, someone said: "Hey, John! How are you?" "Not that great..." John answered. "Who am I talking to?" "Oh, of course. It's me! Professor Reed! Look. Are you busy at the moment?" "Eh, not really... why?" "Well then. Come visit me! I have something to show you. Unless, of course, you don't want to." "No, I'll be there. Sure. I'll be there in... let's say... ten minutes. Sounds alright?" "Sure, John. Just take your time. I'll see you then!"
John put his phone away and started making way for the house of the professor. After a short while, he arrived. He rang the doorbell and the professor opened up. "John! There you are. Do you want some tea?" "Sure..." "You sound kind of down. Did something happen?" "Wel... I lost my job..." "Ah. So that's why. Then I understand. You loved your job, right?" "Yes... yes I did..." "Well. There's nothing to worry about, because what done is done. If you need money of any kind, or can't pay your apartment anymore, feel free to come here and live here for a while. But now, let's show you what I've done in the past few days."
Professor Reed walked, leaning on his wooden stick, slowly but steadily to one of the back rooms. In it, there was an huge machine from which the tubes and mechanisms almost covered up the whole wall and ceiling. At a small desk in the corner, between the machinery, sat the son of the professor. George Reed, who's always helping his father, is a nice guy, and has almost always been a friend of John. John met them when his father went to some sort of laboratorium, where he met professor Reed. They've been friends ever since. When they both got children, they got acquinted too and became friends pretty quickly. They both went to the same schools, but after high school, they began to see each other less and less because of the different jobs they wanted to do. John was already pretty sure that he'd become a lawyer, but George wanted to help his father create new machines for the sake of science. But after John's father died, John had almost lost contact with them. Occasionally, just a cup of tea, but that was once in a month at best.
John was amazed by the machine that covered the room. "It's done, father! The program has been completed. And just in time I see! Welcome, John. To the very first time machine, as far as I know. We've been working day and night, even though we don't really have a deadline, but just to create this awesome piece of science. Pretty cool, right? Our very own time traveling machine! We could do so much with this. Don't you think? We could go to the past, to the future, to the- oh, but I'm rattling too much as usual. I think my father could much better explain this to you, so I'll just let him." "A-hem. Thanks, George. You've been helpful as always." The professor smiled at him. "Now. John. This is probably a machine like no other. We managed to trap a black hole in this device, and we use it to travel through the endless border which is called time; the only place mankind has never put an foot upon. But now, for the first time in it's history, mankind will break the barrier and travel further and wider than ever before; just by stepping in this machine. Isn't that great? We've accomplished something Einstein could only dream of. Accomplished something that has only been described in storybooks and fairytales, but now it's finally true. Mankind will finally step out of the box which is called Theory and Fantasy and step into reality. Science Fiction will become Science Truth. Or, wait. That's just plain stupid. Ah well. Leave it. But. Looks pretty nifty, doesn't it?" John nodded, and after such a speech, he was kind of overwelmed. "Thought so. Now, we are looking for someone who can try it out. Someone who could just go anywhere and anytime. Someone without..." He looked at John, whose face had grown happier over time. Professor Reed smiled. "John, maybe you could be him? The first ever time traveling man. It'd be... it'd be like a time traveling myth. Have you ever read them? The Ancient Greek Myths?" John shook his head, and didn't even know what the professor was talking about. He was, however, very excited with the idea of traveling through time. "Shame. You know what; I'll get you in this time traveling device, and you say whenever you want to go, we'll get you there, and after a couple of hours we'll transport you back here. Also, in the meantime, I'll get you the myths from our library. Does that sound like an idea?" John nodded happily. It was not like he had any future left here, in this time, in London, as a lawyer; since he wasn't one anymore. It was not like had anything to lose. He'd only gain from it. "Now then. That is settled. However, the machine takes some time to fire up and prepare. So, what about tomorrow? We prepare everything here, so tomorrow. Let's say... twelve'o'clock? Around lunchtime? Does that sound fair?" When he saw John nod again, the professor smiled once more. "Alright then. I'll see you here at twelve'o'clock at our house. 'Till then!" John walked with the professor to the front door and yelled "Bye!", after which he ran to his apartment to get his wallet. It was already seven'o'clock, and pretty dark outside, so he figured he'd go and eat something for dinner before going to bed; early, for he must be prepared before tomorrow, so that he was not at all tired when he went through time and space. He got to some kind of expensive restaurant where he ate some chicken and some rice. After that, he payed the bill, took his jacket and went home. He slept well that night, and didn't get haunted by any dreams or nightmare's of any kind. He did dream of the year he wanted to go to, how it'd look, and how the people would be. 2210, he said to himself. 200 years in the future.
The next morning, after a good night rest, John went to the nearest shopping mall and looked there for some chocolate sprinkles; he loved them as a child and figured if they were still availible in 2210. When he had done that, he went back to his apartment and got some bread to put the chocolate sprinkles on. When he was done, he went to the TV, and tried to catch a news flash of any kind so that he could compare it to the future. When he was done, he took his jacket and went to the park again, to rest some more. He took a piece of bread with him, so that he could feed the birds and the squirrels in the park. When he looked at his watch, he noticed it being twelve'o'clock already. He sprang up and ran to the professors house, where the professor himself already stood outside the door, waiting for him. "... And, sixty! You're exactly six minutes late. Well then, let's get this done! Come here, John." John and the professor walked to the room with the time travel machine in it. "To which year do you want to go?" "2210, please. 200 years in the future." "Alrighty then. I've put the data in the machine, now please get in." "Sure," John said when he entered the cabin. "By the way, professor? Have you already tested this machine on other things? Animals, perhaps?" "What? I can't hear you from this cabin!" "I said, have you already tested the machine?" "No! And there's no time left, too! Good luck, John!" And as the professor pulled the lever, the cabin began to spin, John was getting dizzier and dizzier and eventually an white light consumed him.
Chapter One - Too much Time
John opened his eyes, which were sore, and he had a huge headache. He looked around him, and he seemed to be in a dark place. Where could he be? He seemed to be in some sort of basement. But, didn't the time machine automaticaly teleport him to the exact same place, but 200 years later? Then maybe this was... the professor's old house! It still stands! John was amazed by time, and even doubted if he was really send forward in it. The room was precicely the same size, and smelled old, and it was full of boxes. Was it a storage room right now? What happened to the time machine? Did they break it down?
He walked to a door he could just manage to see. He tried the pulling the door, but it didn't give an inch. He realized that he was stuck. He tried pulling the door again and again, and even knocked on it and yelled through it, but nobody seemed to hear him. Then he just gave up, lay his head to the door, and closed his eyes. What to do? John couldn't think of anything, and opened his eyes; after which he saw a small hole in the ceiling with a ladder just some feet too high for John to grab. He managed to pick up one of the boxes that lay around, he climbed upon it and managed to open the hatch. The light of a lamp shined just in his eyes. He put his hand before his eyes, because his eyes were still a bit sore, and managed to climb out of it. The area he was in now looked like a giant hallway, somewhere. Then he heard someone yelling.
"Could this be the one we're looking for?", said a man in a weird suit. It looked like just a dark blue jacket, but John saw that it had more than just that. It was bullet-proof, for starters. "Could be." Another man said. He appeared behind John, who flinched for a bit. "Yoo, fellow, what's your name? And... you're not one of us, are you? Dex, I don't think this is the one we're looking for. The chief told us he was one of us, right? This one doesn't seem like one of us... so he probably isn't the one." The other man, Dex, replied: "I don't know. But hey, he looks lost. Maybe we should take him with us back to the base." After which Dex smiled to John. "You know we can't do that; it'd mean bringing an civilian in danger. You know how dangerous our mission is." "Yeah, I know. Oh, I know! I'll call the base, ask if they can send us some guys as support, and let them take this fellow to our base. He'd be safer there than here." "You may be right. Go ahead and call. But don't make it too long, and don't flirt with those girls this time." "Alright then. Also, do you agree?" Dex asked to John, who just nodded as reply. "Alright. Here goes." He touched his ear, and some kind of screen appeared before the eyes of Dex. John saw that he chose a number and dialed it. "By the way, what's the current year?" John asked to the other guy. "4010, why? You sure know in which- no way. You're the time traveler? YOU'RE THE TIME TRAVELER! DEX! This guy's the time traveler!" Dex looked at John in awe, and spoke to the person at the other end of the line: "Ehm, scrap that last bit. We just found out that the person I was talking about is the time traveler. Yes, indeed. The one and only. What? Alright. We will." After that, he said to John and the other guy: "Time traveler, Florence, we need to go to our base. We'll excort you, time traveler. You musn't fall in wrong hands. If you get caught by the enemy, all hope is lost." John was still astounded by everything that happened. 4010? It couldn't be. It'd mean that he went 2000 years instead of 200 years in the future... no. The professor couldn't have made any mistakes, or could he? And besides, what the hell was all this talk about him falling in the wrong hands? Which hands? What's happening?
Florence looked at John's puzzling face and said: "I know, this probably doesn't make any sence or whatsoever. But we'll explain everything at the base, alright? Now, please walk with us. Oh, by the way, what's your name? I am Florence, and that's Dex." "Ehm... John." "Alright, John. Please walk with us. But be cautious, please." "Oh, and John?" Dex said to him. "Please carry this." From a backpack he was carrying, Dex took a jacket just like the ones he and Florence wore, and also a small handgun. "Please wear this. It'll make sure that if there are any bandits, you won't die immediately. Take care."
John walked with the two men through what it seemed an old abandoned factory. Why was the house of the professor in this factory? Was it fate that Dex and Florence just passed by, or just mere luck? After a short while, they stood before a small door. "Outside this door is the wasteland. It is around an half hour traveling to London. Yeah, you probably don't understand, but in the Great War of 2913, London was bombed and every little piece of it was shattered into dust. The house of professor Reed was still standing because we had built a factory above it. This factory was shielded from bomb attacks, and that's why the house isn't damaged at all. But since London was burnt to the ground, we had to built a new London, and that's why it's so far from here. But watch out. It's a wasteland, a desert, but the ground is treacherous and bandits and rebels could be lurking at behind every hill or rock. Be cautious." John nodded and Dex opened the door. Bright light flashed into the eyes of John, and he managed to look up, but there was no sun. All he could see was water. "Haha, yeah. Only water. A couple of hundred years ago, the water level rose so high that we had to built a dome to stop the water." Dex explained. "The light you're standing in comes from a huge lamp at the top of the dome. We haven't done anything in this wasteland, yet, because the ground could fall away at any moment. That was all because of those stupid nukes they had to send each other back then. But enough history lessons. We must walk quickly." He began to walk pretty fast, and John had a hard time keeping up with them. The jacket was heavy, the handgun heavier, and he had to walk precicely were Florence and Dex walked to stay out of the bad sands. "There you can see it already, in the distance, if you look hard enough. London anno 4010."
After a while, John, Florence and Dex arrived at London. At a huge and beautiful gate, they stopped. Florence and Dex both handed their weapons to the guards, and put their eyes in some sort of glasses which apparently read scanned their eyes for the data within. "Come with us, please."
John walked with Florence and Dex inside the giant gate, and John looked up to see a huge building; without windows, only a door, and pipes going outside and inside. It looked like another factory, but it probably wasn't. When they walked inside, it looked just like one of those banks or malls from 2010, but much more technology was involved. Or so it seemed. They walked to the counter were a women was just done with a phone call. "Yes, what can I do for you?" "We'd like to see the chief. We've been invited." "Names?" "Florence, Dex and John." "Alright. Please take platform 3B."
They walked to a room with several warp pads, as they were called. They had different sizes, and there were signs with different letters and numbers on them. Florence, Dex and John stopped at 3B, and Dex stepped in the glowing rings. His body dissolved, and the rings froze for a moment; after which they began spinning and glowing again. "It's your turn, John. Come on, go ahead. There's nothing to fear. Meet the technology of the year 4010." Florence said to John. John doubted if it wasn't dangerous, as he had heard many theories involving teleporting. One of them being dissolving the body and reconstructing it again, but that would kill the person who tried. Or did it? John stepped in anyway and felt light tickling around his body. His sight went blank again, just like when he used the time travelling device, and a few seconds later, he could see again and saw Dex smiling at him. They waited until Florence was with them, and then they moved forwards. Through the hallways and the corridors, until they've reached a decorated door. Florence was just about to open the door, but was startled by the sound of people running and carrying a body with a shovel in it. "What the..." Dex whispered, after seeing the body. Dex eyes widened, and he yelled "Sarah! SARAH!" He tried to run with the people, but one of them stopped them. "I'm sorry. Your father went crazy. He was working in his private garden, digging a hole for another of those ancient trees, when Sarah walked in. She asked if he wanted some tea, and your father declined. Sarah kept pushing on, since your father hasn't drank anything but muddy water in days, and at one point, he went crazy and stabbed the shovel in her body. We are now getting her to the MRC, but she'll be fine. Your father was put in custody. Room 54T, to be precise." Dex nodded slowly and Florence opened the door. "Come, Dex. There's nothing we could do about it now."