Time Sink
“It's not where, Califous,” Professor Acheson said with a stern look. The older man insisted on using the full names of everyone in his class, regardless of what they preferred to be called. He said it was “paying homage to the past”, but Cal found it annoying.
“Right. Sorry Prof,” he looked down at his feet. “It's when.”
“Exactly!” Acheson's voice was tight. “You've heard about time-travel, son, but I know you've never had the chance to experience it for yourself. Few do, even here at the University.”
“The University?” Cal frowned, peering out of the darkened windows of the Transducer. “This doesn’t look anything like Tren U.”
“Of course not!” The professor said with a broad smile. “At least, not the Trenton University you're used to. Three hundred years ago, however, the marshland it was built on was wild and untamed.” He put out a hand as Cal reached for the door. “I wouldn't go out there, however – not just the animals of this time but the virulent air-borne diseases could easily kill you. Stand and look all you want, but don't leave the chamber.”
Cal nodded and went back to looking out the window. It was hard to believe the cramped box Acheson had built could actually travel in time – from a distance it looked like something a child might put together on Holiday morning, complete with discolored paneling and flashing lights but inside the Transducer was a technical marvel. Professor Acheson didn't care for looks so much as function, and it was clear he'd succeeded on that score.
“When exactly are we?” He tried the question again. Three hundred years was the approximate date, but Cal wanted to know specifics.
“Hmmm?” Acheson looked up from a dataplate he was holding. “Oh, three hundred and sixteen years distant from the present, to be precise.”
A shiver ran down Cal's spine, though he couldn't say why. Perhaps it was simply the distance from home, coupled with the fact that he hadn't really gone anywhere. If the professor was to adjust the controls and push the Transducer forward, they'd be back in his office on Trent U's campus, and could even come back the moment after they'd left. Acheson was very strict about never returning the moment before, as he had no interest in meeting a former time-self that might have discovered something he could on his own. He was a strange little man.
Cal pulled his attention from the landscape to study the strange professor; he was far and away the most interesting of the instructors on campus, but that came in large part from his total lack of concern for students. It was entertaining to take one of his classes – he made sure that everyone passed, but never by so much that they felt intelligent. His lectures weren't about teaching but rather featured Acheson brainstorming his way through an idea and insulting any student that had nerve to ask a question or offer advice. Cal had spent many mornings doubled over with laughter in the professor's classroom when he wasn't the target of the man's ire.
Acheson didn't look that imposing with a barely-there mustache and terrible combover, and when ill-fitting trousers and a dirty jacket were factored into the equation it was hard to take the skinny man seriously. A few minutes listening to him babble made it apparent he was a genius – just not one to spend any time around.
“Got it!” Acheson said aloud, and Cal stifled a yelp. Had he been caught looking?
“What?” He asked softly, and the professor glanced up at him.
“Our destination. Hang on!” There was a sickening twist to the world outside the Transducer as Acheson pulled the lever, and Cal wished he'd had a few moments warning to grab something or empty his stomach. When the world solidified again he looked out the window and saw the lights of a city in the distance; closer to the machine were the clear forms of gravestones.
“When are we now?” Cal wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
“Ha!” Acheson barked a laugh. “This time I've tricked you. We didn't move in time, Califous, but merely in space. We're on the other continent, now.”
“Why?” The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He wanted a tour of time, not of one time's world.
“Come along,” Acheson said shortly, and moved for the door. “Oh.” He paused, then stuck a h-sprayer to his neck and passed it to Cal. “We might want to make it back alive.”
Cal stuck himself and bolted after the professor, who was striding through the soft earth of the worn cemetery with a purpose. “Professor!” He called. “What are you doing?”
“Doing?” The little man said as Cal caught up with him. “What I must. Well – what you must. I didn't bring you along just for sightseeing, young man. I need your help.”
“My help?” Confusion made him miss a step in loamy ground and he struggled to right himself. “What are you talking about?”
“It's simple, my boy,” Acheson said, stopping as he reached the edge of the graveyard and pulling out a small tracking device. With a quick motion he turned it on and then started down a cobbled street. “The progenitor of the man who will develop a rival to my device lives here, in this village. I've seen the specifications of the machine my colleague intends to build and it will be far more cost-effective than my own version. You,” he stuck out one bony finger, “will kill this man's ultimate sire.”
“I will not!” Cal's stomached turned. He could never do such a thing.
“You will,” the professor said with a thin smile, “or you will spend the rest of your short life here, in the past – that serum wears off in two hours. Choose, Califous, and choose wisely. You have little time.”
- D
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