A Time Conundrum – Part 5

August 6, 2006

The morning of their flight was suddenly upon them. All had been checked and double checked. Tension filled the air. The scientists paced the floor nervously while the technicians attended to last minute details. Beside the regular crew of Rudder Rudigast and Gina Lesage, Dr. Hillzinger, Phil Redbird, Sven and Bill would be passengers of the capsule. Sheila Osbourne would remain behind to monitor her equipment from the Institute’s control room.

She cornered Bill before he was ready to embark. She kissed him deeply and said.

“Now that the experiment is almost over I am looking forward to spend more time with you. And I do not mean work time. Though there is some research that I would not mind doing with you.”

On that she hugged him suggestively and escorted him to the capsule’s narrow hatch, where they parted company. Bill joined the rest of the crew in the cabin where everyone was already preparing for the time flight. He buckled himself in a comfortable seat. While the flight crew was going through the final checklist Bill leaned to-ward Sven. He said.

“Do you think that we are doing the right thing? I feel somewhat like god. I hope that we are not playing with something that we cannot handle.”

Sven answered. “It sounds to me like you are getting cold feet. You know as well as I do that we are doing this for the good of mankind.”

“I know…, it’s just that I am anxious to get going. Actually I am more anxious to come back to Sheila.”

Sven laughed heartily. He replied. “It is nice to see that the shy Dr. Livingston is finally coming out of his shell. Don’t worry we will be back in time for supper. You will be able to go out with your cherished Sheila.”

Their discussion was interrupted by Rudder’s voice. He was saying. “We are about to disconnect the umbilicals. There will be a short period of darkness before we go to internal power.”

The lights blinked on and off a few times then stabilized. A soft hum enveloped them. Rudder’s voice came back on.

“Please get ready for time transfer. We will be going in one minute.”

Bill looked out the small aperture in the shuttle’s side. He caught one last glimpse of Sheila, standing behind her console, before his vision became blurry.

From Sheila’s point of view the jump appeared normal. First the outline of the time capsule became blurry, then it flattened itself into nothingness with a loud clap. She hoped that all was as well as it appeared. She had more riding on this launch than usual, Bill was aboard.

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From 1990: A Time Conundrum

The Sass