THE TIME VECTOR FIELD CHRONICLES
"The Second Coming"
as told to
Jesse Errol Stewart
by
Thomas Robert Lancaster
It was in the Transvaal Region of South
Africa, near the eastern edge of the Drakensberg range sometimes
called "the Edge of the World," where the historical
event first took place. Here in the wilds of Africa, where man
and civilization began - Col. Dezeraie Stuart, Dr. Pete Savage
and the Colonel's ridgeback dog, Hottentot physically traveled
through the time barrier. Using an analog based design developed
by Dr. Savage and myself, these three adventurers entered the
time fabric on August 12, 1963, and traveled to August 12, 1883,
and to August 12, 1923, on five separate occasions. Since this
was our first experiment in manipulating the time fabric, Col.
Stuart suggested that I remain behind to make magnetic grid point
adjustments should they be required. This I reluctantly agreed to
do since time travel was something I had dreamed about since I
was a small boy on the Orkney Isles in Scotland. However, I saw
the logic in the Colonel's suggestion. Of all of us, I was
probably the most qualified from a technical viewpoint to address
any magnetic flow anomalies. After providing Dr. Savage with
detailed instructions on navigating through the time fabric, both
he and the Colonel strapped Hottentot and themselves into the
little time module we had christened the Qabalah. Without any
fanfare or apparent concern showing in his eyes for the magnitude
of this event, Col. Stuart immediately lit the time travel
circuit. What began as a deep, resonating, humming sound quickly
turned into a shrill, piercing buzz. Immediately, the air around
me became electrified and slowly swirled in a clockwise direction
around the time module. The smell of ozone permeated the
atmosphere. Right before my eyes, I saw the Qabalah gently
disappear into a glowing yellow-green mist above the Transvaal
plain. My immediate attention was on Col. Stuart since he was
staring out the module and pointing frantically in my direction,
as he faded from sight. Because of his actions, I immediately
stood up to get a better look. Unexpectedly, I felt a sharp pain
in my left shoulder and fell to the ground. I had been hit and
temporarily knocked unconscious by the metal camp stove. As I
regained my senses, I looked up to see the stove continuing its
journey to the point where the Qabalah had been just a minute
earlier. The strong magnetic force coming from the site was
attracting every metallic object within approximately 100 yards.
My metal pocket knife literally ripped through the front of my
trousers on its frantic journey towards the Qabalah's launch
point. It was a strange sight, seeing the unusual collection of
metal objects piled together on the ground, reflecting the eerie,
yellow-green light that was rapidly dissipating into the cool,
night air. Dazed, I immediately sat down in a camp chair and
realized for the first time that the back of my shirt was
drenched with blood. Feeling the wound with my right hand, it was
apparent that I had a nasty four inch gash across my left rear
shoulder. I quickly cleaned the wound with alcohol and placed a
compress across it. Shaken by this experience, I thought of Col.
Stuart and Dr. Savage. Were they safe? Where were they? What was
their fate? I quickly ran towards the Qabalah's launch point and
looked at the preposterous collection of metal objects that had
accumulated there. Little remained except for the indentations
the Qabalah made earlier in the ground. I placed my hand in the
space where the module had been, and then my body. Nothing,
absolutely nothing was there. Suddenly however, in an instant,
things changed! The hairs on my arms were moving as if some
invisible wind had blown them. Next, the air around me began to
quickly swirl in a counterclockwise direction. It actually
started to feel heavier on my skin and condensation began forming
on my face and arms. My clothes became very damp and I was having
trouble breathing. I could again smell ozone and hear the high
pitched buzzing sound that the Qabalah made on the initial
journey. Then as I turned around, the time module began to slowly
reappear in that bizarre yellow-green haze. At this point, an
amazing thing happened! All the metal articles that had moved
swiftly towards the launch site earlier, started moving away from
it instead. I reached for my pocket knife at the edge of the pile
but I was too late, as it launched itself across the encampment.
Fortunately, I immediately took refuge behind a Rooihout tree
near the Qabalah's launch site and narrowly avoided being hit
again by any of the objects. The metal camp stove that had
earlier knocked me down in its mad dash towards the launch site,
now hurled off in the opposite direction. I watched in amazement
as it gathered speed and finally hit an embankment about 200 feet
away! When I regained my composure, I peered around the tree just
in time to see Col. Stuart and Dr. Savage getting out of the time
module. Hottentot was already by my side licking my face. Col.
Stuart immediately ran up to me. "Good God, Thomas, are you
finally all right?! When our earlier departure caused an intense
magnetic field, I saw the camp stove heading towards the Qabalah
and you were right in its path! I tried to motion for you to
move, but I wasn't sure you understood me. You faded from my view
before I could determine if you were hit." "I told Pete
that I thought you could be hurt and we should return to the
present to see if you were all right," continued Col.
Stuart. "However, he said that was impossible because we
were neither here nor there. I immediately asked him what he
meant by that ridiculous statement. He replied that once the
Qabalah had been programmed, it must go to the destination vector
point first, before it can come back to the current vector point.
If this procedure is not followed, then the Qabalah's time
reference indicator would become misaligned with the time fabric.
Once this happened; the Qabalah would never be able to precisely
come back to the present. Consequently, when the Qabalah's time
reference indicator signaled that we had finally reached high
noon on August 12, 1883, I had Pete immediately re- program the
navigational coordinates. I wanted to quickly return to the
current vector point so that we could check on you and that's
just what we did. I'm glad to see that you're finally all
right!" "Yes, yes, I'm all right," I said.
"Just a little shaken up about the whole bloody thing. Looks
like I received a nasty four inch gash on my back shoulder
though. A little souvenir of this historic occasion, in addition
to the strange dream I just had." Looking at me, Col. Stuart
immediately narrowed his eyes and said, "Just exactly what
did you dream, Thomas?" Ignoring his question, I said
excitedly, "Colonel, do you realize the magnitude of what
you , Dr. Savage and Hottentot did? As far as we know, you three
are the very first time travelers! Just two men and a ridgeback
dog! The first real Chronauts, if you will, the very first beings
to physically transverse the time fabric across hyperspace and
exist in another dimension of time and space!" "Well
Thomas, that's very flattering, but let's not entirely discount
what happened aboard the U.S.S. Eldridge," said Col. Stuart,
chuckling to himself. The Colonel's flippant attitude surprised
and angered me! "Well, I was very badly disappointed,"
I blurted. "I wish I could have played a more important role
in the whole bloody thing! Rationally, I understand why I had to
stay behind, but I'm hurt about it just the same!" Col.
Stuart looked at me somewhat apprehensively, then turned away
without saying anything, which was not his typical demeanor.
"Had I hurt his feelings voicing my own selfish
concerns?" I thought. The Colonel quickly turned around and
looked me square in the eye! "Thomas, your father, Lord
Robert and I had an understanding that once we left the Orkney
Isles, I would always watch out for you," he said.
"Since my word is my bond, I was not about to let you go on
this perilous journey, especially when I was unsure that the
Qabalah could even return to this dimension, let alone this
particular vector point in time!" Besides someone had to
stay behind to chronicle the event for posterity. Emphasizing his
point, Col. Stuart walked up to Dr. Savage and slapped him on the
back. "Pete and I have few family ties, we're men of
adventure and yes, it would be tragic if something happened to
us, but we know the risks! Both of us know what to expect in this
world, but neither of us knew what to expect in another time and
place. Well Thomas, I want you to know that time has played out a
strange twist of fate for all of us! In my desire to protect you,
I unwittingly presented you with an opportunity that few human
beings will ever probably experience!" Totally confused by
the Colonel's remark, I asked him to explain what he meant. Col.
Stuart looking somewhat dismayed, took off his hat and sat down
in a camp chair. "Thomas," he said, "I understand
your concern about not sharing in this journey, but quite
honestly you really didn't miss a thing! When we arrived at the
vector point representing the meridian on August 12, 1883, Pete
and I actually saw very little that we would consider unusual. I
must confess that after we arrived at our destination, we were
both reluctant to leave the Qabalah because we didn't know what
to expect. Nonetheless, once we overcame this apprehension, we
opened the module's portal and ventured out with Hottentot into
that veldt in front of us. Amazingly, after eighty years it looks
just about the same except for that large tree which was just a
sapling then." "After getting out of the Qabala, I used
my field glasses to look around," continued Col. Stuart.
"I saw a small group of natives off in the distance about a
quarter of a mile away. From what I could hear, they were
speaking Bantu and were most likely Zulus out on a hunt. It was
all I could do to keep Hottentot quiet. Fortunately for Dr.
Savage and myself, the natives were heading away from us into the
wind, most likely on the trail of a wildebeest by the smell.
Other than that, we might as well have been back in the
present." Col. Stuart paused briefly to emphasize the next
point. "Actually, the real adventure occurred when we were
traveling between time vector points," he said. "I've
named this mysterious pathway the 'Inter-Dimensional Time Vector
Matrix,' although I suspect that in antiquity, mystics were aware
of its presence and called it by many names." This 'alam al
mithal' appears to be a collage of dark shadows and brilliant
colors and is surely a mirror of yesterday's regrets and
tomorrow's dreams. So you see Thomas, you actually missed very
little at all of August 12, 1883, and next time you'll come with
us to experience everything. Sure, it's true that Dr. Savage,
Hottentot and myself may well be the first time travelers to
physically transport themselves to another time and place and
come back safely. However, I want you to understand the full
ramifications of what truly happened to you!" Clearing his
voice as if to make a point, Col. Stuart said, "Listen
carefully to what I'm about to say! When Dr. Savage and I came
back initially to the current time vector point to see if you
were all right, we met with a terrible sight. We found you lying
on your back with that huge four inch wound across your left
temple, not your back! You had lost a considerable amount of
blood. I hate to say it, but you were quite dead!! As you can
imagine, Dr. Savage and I were extremely upset! Pete put his head
into his hands and sank to the ground and started to wail. I must
confess to you, Thomas, for the first time in several decades, I
experienced true fear. At first I didn't know what to do, but I
forced myself to regain my composure. I knew that at this moment,
for both Pete and myself to be in this grievous state of mind was
serving no useful purpose." Turning to Dr. Savage, Col.
Stuart continued, "I tore my focus away from you and what
happened and concentrated on what Pete and I could do to change
the situation. Then an idea occurred to me! Could we go to a time
vector point just prior to when you were hit in the temple by the
camp stove? True, Dr. Savage and I had just demonstrated our
ability to transpose time by arriving at August 12, 1883.
However, as you well know, the preparation for this first trip
had been in the works for months and required some extremely high
level navigational programming on your part. In addition, both
Pete and I realized on this journey that if we were ever going to
time travel again, the Qabalah's time reference indicator needed
some major enhancements. Otherwise, we could become lost in some
dimension of the time fabric. I wasn't even sure that at this
stage in our time travel exploits, that we could even go back to
that time vector point that existed prior to the incident where
you had met your fate! I asked Dr. Savage if he thought we could
go back and save your life. He said that he was not sure that we
had the ability to regress the time fabric and alter past events.
It appears in a uni-world dimension that every prime occurrence
in the past is always logically and consistently related to some
future event." "That's right!" blurted Pete,
"I was very concerned about what had happened, but I wasn't
sure that we had the ability to go back and change things. I was
utterly shocked by what Col. Stuart and Dr. Savage were telling
me! "What the bloody hell do you mean?" I shouted.
"Well," said Pete, "Col. Stuart and I kept trying
to return to the time vector point just prior to your fatal
accident in order to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, no
matter what we tried to do to alter the event, we could not
change the inevitable outcome, which was of course, your untimely
demise! By manipulating time vector points, each of us got out of
the module at different times and tried to reach out and grab you
or the camp stove in order to change the unfortunate sequence of
events. Col. Stuart even stood in front of the camp stove in
order to keep it from hitting you, but to no avail! Anything we
attempted to do was thwarted by the fact that whenever we reached
out for you or the camp stove it was as if we were grabbing empty
space. I saw my hand pass right through you several times, in my
many attempts to grab you and push you out of the way! I even saw
the camp stove go right through the Colonel, like he was some
sort of apparition, when he stood between it and you! For some
strange reason, you couldn't hear or see us. It was almost as if
the sequence of events leading up to your death were programmed
and there was no way to alter or stop them!" "Finally,
in desperation. Col. Stuart and I sat in the Qabalah thinking
what we could do to save your life," Pete continued.
"It had became apparent to both of us that the problem we
were having with our time reference indicator kept us from
recapturing that exact instant in the time fabric when your
unfortunate sequence of events began. We felt that this accounted
for our specter like state, where our inability to grab either
you or the camp stove kept us from altering any prior event. We
both felt if we could recapture that specific vector point that
preceded the chain of events leading up to your death we could
change things. However, since the Qabalah's time reference
indicator was not working accurately, we thought that the
likelihood of that occurring was quite slim." "Instead,
Col. Stuart asked me to re-program the coordinates in the Qabalah
so that we would only go about forty years into the past instead
of eighty," said Pete, pretending to program an imaginary
computer. "The Colonel's reasoning was that the magnetic
force that attracted metallic objects to the time module's launch
point upon departure would be significantly less for forty years
in the past as compared to eighty years in the past. Thus the
weaker magnetic field would cause less distortion of the time
fabric, and hopefully, we could gain additional time in which to
save your life. We were gambling and we knew it, but there was
little else we could do!" "Once I had reset the time
vector point coordinates, Col. Stuart again lit the Qabalah's
time travel circuit and we headed towards the re-programmed time
vector point," said Pete, again motioning with his hands.
"As our field of vision merged out of the 'Inter-Dimensional
Time Vector Matrix,' we could again see the camp stove moving
towards you, but unlike the previous times when it hit you in the
head, this time you had additional seconds in which to stand up
when Col. Stuart motioned with his arms. As a result, on this
occasion the camp stove hit you in the rear left shoulder instead
and knocked you down. Once we reached the time vector point
representing August 12, 1923, we immediately started back to the
current time vector point to check on you. Obviously, when we saw
you next we knew the plan had worked! Col. Stuart leaped out of
the Qabalah first and ran towards you finding you somewhat dazed
but very much alive!" Col. Stuart moved closer and was
observing me very intensely with his luminous blue eyes. Smiling,
he said, "Thomas, do you realize that as far as we know,
there are only three human beings that have actually come back
from the dead? Jesus Christ, Lazarus and now you! It's almost as
if you actually did cheat time, entropy and the inevitable!"
"The inevitable!", I thought, "It was great to
have colleagues like Col. Stuart and Dr. Savage. They did
everything possible to come back and save me, and amidst the
ashes of failure they found the paragon of victory! This speaks
well of my fellow Chronauts, and especially of their strength and
resolve." "But what of the strange dream I had when I
was knocked unconscious by the camp stove? There are so many
things I must sort out in my mind! Should I tell the Colonel and
Dr. Savage of the Being of Light, the indescribable Presence that
made me tremble and feel insignificant, until I was told by Him
that my life's purpose was still unfulfilled? Should I tell them
about the Godhead Chronicles and of my purpose as it was
explained to me? Alas, probably not now!" "I must
confess that the whole thing seems a bit unbelievable! However,
if I search my soul deeply, I know that this immaculate vision is
real. Perhaps after I've had some time to think things through,
I'll discuss my destiny and what is to follow with Col. Stuart
and Dr. Savage..."
COPYRIGHT 1997 BY THE RAULM CORPORATION. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
