Escapement by Timothy Powell

Escapement by Timothy Powell

Author:Timothy Powell [Powell, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-01T23:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

“What do you mean, you can’t come back?” Dalton asked.

“Mr. Mallet,” Scott said. “In order to make a return trip, one would need this same machine and the same amount of prep time. The machine is here.”

“Think of it like this, Dalton,” Mr. Riker said. “If you go to the past, you would need this machine to get you back. That means we would have to send a group to every year in the history of mankind to build one of these in order to make that happen. On the other hand, one could be built in the future, but we have no way of knowing. However, if it were already built, wouldn’t someone be here by now with it? So, this is a one-way ticket. You can travel there, but there is no traveling back.”

“This is a lot to think about,” Dalton said. “This whole thing is just…”

“A big ol’ mindfuck?” Carl added.

“That!” Dalton said, pointing at Carl.

“But what an opportunity!” Mr. Riker said.

“Why not you?” Dalton asked, looking at Mr. Riker.

“Me?” Mr. Riker replied. “My God, I’d love to! And I most certainly will! But I need to stay on this end with Carl and everyone else for the time being. We must document and educate our world on what it means and the possibilities that time travel presents.”

“But you said that no one else would get the chance if I refused. You said you would explain that later,” Dalton said.

“I did say that, and I meant it,” Mr. Riker said. “No one will get the chance, at least, not in the immediate future. When you go, wherever you decide to go, we would like you to document everything. We want to get as much information here that you can share with us. We have designed a camera that should work as a two-way between time. It’s inside of a special watch that you will wear, that also contains the beacon. With this, you can make direct contact with our lab, no matter which way you decide to go. In time, I shall follow, as well as many others. Imagine all the government funding.”

“This is so heavy,” Dalton said. “Wait, another thing. If I choose to go forward or back, will anything I do change time? Could I be responsible for altering the past or future as we know it?”

Dalton felt the air get heavy in the room, realizing the implications this could have. He had seen many movies about time travel, but they were just that, movies. This was real life. He didn’t know what would happen and hoped Mr. Riker would have an answer.

“Can the future or the past truly be changed?” Carl asked.

“Carl, Dalton,” Mr. Riker said. “I’ve been a student of time travel for a very long time. I’ve enjoyed the movies that involved it in any way, shape or form. Loved the books and stories from the fiction I’ve read. Now, it’s a reality. We won’t really know the full extent of time travel until we do it.



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