Chapter No.56. Timely

I took Bridget and Kali down to the surface near NASA's headquarters in what was left of Washington D.C. Both Kali and I were armed with improved laser rifles, but we didn't encounter any threats. Kali used her old passkey number to enter the building, and we entered a virtually untouched visitor's reception room.

Kali was able to get into the computer system inside the reception area and it worked to open the door to the historical records and museum room. As before, Kali was also able to operate the ancient computer to access NASA's historical data.

"This looks similar to what we found before in a different timeline," she said. "I'll copy it so we can check it out when we get back to the ship.

Everything looked the same as before until I spotted a poster hanging on the back wall. "What the hell is this?"

The poster showed obviously posed images of happy families, usually a man, woman and child, entering what appeared to be a large curved structure that was connected to some sophisticated equipment. The headline above the image was 'Enjoy the Past'.

"That looks like some sort of machine," Bridget said.

"What do they mean by 'Enjoy the Past'?"

"Maybe it refers to some sort of time portal, sir."

"I don't get it," I said, frowning. "There is no method to travel back into the past."

"I think this refers to a way to escape climate change, sir." She pointed to the poster. "It says that it's possible to find your favorite time in the past."

"I don't believe this!" I blurted. "How in the hell could they have come up with a method to do that?"

"Maybe the computer data will give us an idea," Kali suggested.

I sighed. "Okay, let's get the data and get the hell out of here before we have to shoot our way out."

Surprisingly, we didn't run into any problems. We got in the shuttle and returned to the ship.

It wasn't until we studied NASA's computer data that we were able to understand what it meant.

"That's what the poster is referring to sir," Janet said. "They offered people a way to travel back into the past to escape climate change."

"How in the hell could they do that . . . impossible trick?"

"I'm working on that, sir," Bridget said. "They proposed a theory that involves something akin to the hyperspace node concept except their idea involved a static quantum converter that could open a portal to the past. I have a hunch that the idea is bogus."

"What are you suggesting? That they were enticing people into a crackpot idea that would destroy them?"

"That's a possibility, sir," Janet said. "There are references to the idea that the only way to cure climate change was to decrease Earth's population."

I ran a hand through my hair. "That's ridiculous." I paused to swallow hard. "Is there any indication as to where this time portal is located?"

"There is a reference to a location in Colorado, a large cave near a power station," Janet said.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," I said.

"There isn't anything we can do about it, sir," Janet said. "Whatever happened was more than a hundred years ago."

"Yes, but we must locate the device and determine what actually happened."

"I'll begin X-ray scans of locations in Colorado," Janet said.

"The NASA data indicates that they had several takers," Kali said. "Obviously, many people were disgusted with Earth's condition at that time. NASA actually promised money payments for going into the past."

"Yeah, they probably made bogus money transfers to their bank accounts, which were considered public domain after several years."

It wasn't until later that evening that Janet and Sharon had discovered a possible location for the time portal.

"We've located a large device in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, sir," Janet said.

"Isn't that where NORAD was located?"

"I believe so, sir, but I think they converted it to the Space Command headquarters."

"How appropriate."

"Are we going to go there and check it out?" Kali asked.

"Yes, but we don't know if there are any threats down there."

She offered me a smirk. "We can handle anything."

I raised my hand and she and I did a high five. The others were not as confident as we were.

Kali, Bridget, Sharon and I boarded the shuttle to go to the Colorado location of the time portal. Kali and I got out and moved toward the entrance to a huge cave. Bridget and Sharon followed us.

Surprisingly, we encountered no opposition.

It didn't take us long to get to the time portal device, which was intact. The main device consisted of a metal circle mounted on a slightly slanted metal plate so that there was a clear passage through it. A large power generator sat next to it connected by huge cables.

"Okay, how does this work?" I asked.

Sharon and Bridget were looking over the power generator.

"We might be able to start this up, sir," Bridget said.

"Is that safe?"

"It's just an electrical generator, sir."

"If that's the case, how could it create a portal to a past time?"

"That's not possible," Sharon said. "We think it creates a high voltage plasma field."

"Why would anyone be dumb enough to go through that?"

Suddenly, the portal machine came to life, filling the area inside the circle with a blue haze that sizzled and cracked. It reminded me of magnetic plasma shielding that we have on our shuttles.

"Okay, I take that back. I can see why people would think that this was a time portal." I picked up a piece of lumber that just happened to be lying there and chucked it into the circle. It was immediately vaporized.

Sharon stopped the generator to reveal that the wood had disappeared.

"So, this is the idea these clowns came up with to fix climate change?"

"It looks that way, sir," Sharon said.

"I wonder how many victims fell for this scam."

"I think I see where you're going with this, sir," she said. "Even if they ran this day and night for years, it wouldn't be able to do away with nearly nine billion people."

"My conclusion also," I said. "They might have killed off a million or so, but not billions."

"I wonder if Amar knows about this," Sharon said.

"Maybe we should ask him."

We searched the compound as well as we could for any other information, but it had been stripped of any possible data technology, so we returned to the ship.

"Open a link to the bio-sphere city," I told Natale.

Amar's image appeared.

"Are you aware that NASA offered people a way to go into the past through a time portal?"

I noted a slight twist in his lips before he replied. "I have heard about it from my mother. She told me that many people fell victim to it."

"We checked it out in Colorado. It's nothing more than a magnetic plasma shield that vaporized its victims."

"Yes. Fortunately, the monsters that tricked people into sacrificing their lives for the planet are no longer alive."

"Agreed," I said. "This discovery is significant but does not explain the loss of over nine billion people."

He paused as if trying to recall something. "I recall that there was a concerted effort to take people to what was considered a super habitable Earth."

"Do you know where that was?"

"I believe it was Epsilon Eridani. Supposedly, they went there with people in hibernation to colonize a habitable planet."

"When was that?"

"I believe it was in 2105."

"Thanks for the information. I think we'll go check it out."

He nodded and ended the communication link.

"Well, that's interesting."

"If they went using hyperspace, the idea would fail," Kali said.

"Maybe they completed the trip without being in hyperspace."

"That system is only 10.5 light years from Earth, sir," Janet said. "If they could have gotten near the speed of light it would be a feasible journey."

"I agree. Calculate a course to that star that doesn't go through a node."

"I will have that shortly, sir," Bridget said.

We didn't start the mission until the next morning. We had no idea what we would find, but it was important that we determine if they were successful.

After the usual acceleration to near the speed of light, we entered hyperspace for a day trip, and when we came out of hyperspace a billion kilometers from the star system, we were surprised by what we saw.