Author's Note: Welcome, welcome, come one, come all the very beginning of
what, if it all comes together in the end, promises to be unique. At least
I think so, if you disagree I welcome any comment that you wish to make. I
might as well tell you now, my name is Geoff Jones and I can be reached at
pjames@learn.senecac.on.ca, just place my name in the subject box. So, sit
back, relax, grab a big cool one of what ever it is you enjoy drinking and
read on. Oh yeah, one more thing, if parts of this seem confusing don't
worry, it's the beginning of the story, it's ok not to know what's going
on [I just hope that I can figure out what is happening!:)]
Disclaimer: All the characters that appear in this story are the property
of Marvel Comics, except the ones that I created, and are used without
permission. I am not employed in any way by Marvel Comics and have written
this story so that other people may enjoy it. I have recieved no money,
directly or indirectly from this story and if Marvel wants to sue my butt
good luck, I don't have any capital or assets.
__________
Prologue:
Date: Post-Summers War
Location: Fellowship, U.S.A.
Time: Thursday, 03:19
The road leading into town was almost non-existant. Not that this
was particularly strange, there wasn't much left to town that the road
lead to either. Since the war the crumbling pavement had deteriorated to
the point that only AT-hover vehicles and old, heavily modified jeeps
could travel along it's surface. On the outskirts of town a rusted, green
metal sign held bravely onto the rotting remains of a wooden post by a
single bolt. The sign read:
We come to Fell ship, U.
The end place
and hung at an obscure angle to the ground. The vegitation in the area was
sparse with one, old willow tree on a hill standing out against the
blackened rock and scattered grasses struggling to find life in the dry
ground.
Once inside the town proper the view didn't improve. Most of the
buildings, that were still standing that is, looked like they had seen
better days. The large hotel that had stood across from the general store
now proclamed it's self to be HOT and had a non-blinking sign that
advertised "great rat s" and "no water". The general store it's self was
still standing as was a smaller, one level concrete building behind it. If
any traveller had been brave enough to travel out here at night they might
have wondered at the one working street light that still glowed just
outside of the unmarked concrete building. And they wouldn't have been
alone, the occupants of the building, the only people left in Fellowship
had been trying for years to stop it but had been unsuccessful.
"Fellow scientist and research assistants, I would first thank
you for your dedication and congratulate you on a job well done." On a
makeshift podium a man in a labcoat stood with his back to a circular
platform. He was about average hieght and had shoulder length brown
hair. In his hand he held a touch pad with a small screen and infront of
him an assembled group of about 15 men and women stood wearing labcoats
with a name stenciled on the right hand pocket. The name on the man was
Douglas, Micheal. Seeing that he had everyones attention he went on.
"I understand that may of you placed personal projects to the side
and dedicated long hours to the development of the device we now have
infront of us. I thank you for your sacrifice but as we all know it was
impairative that we deal with certain problems before our research can
continue. Once all the obsticales have been removed we can focus our
abilities where they are most needed and continue along the paths that lay
before us.
"Now I'm sure that some of you are interested in finding out who
is going to give the platform it's initial test run. Due to the danger
that is involved in all time travel I have decided that only the members
of our group how can naturally travel through time will test it. Since the
strongest among us is young Paul," Micheal indicated to a short scientist,
"I have decided that he will be the first tester. Paul, what do you say?"
The group turned to look at the 24 year old genuis. Paul, who stood around
5' 2" took off his thin glasses and ran a hand through his short red hair.
Rumour had it that the glasses were more of a stylistic touch then a
necesity. Paul took a single step forward and nodded his head.
"I would be honoured, of course. However since I can only travel,
at the most, 48 hours in any one direction I fail to see how I will be
able the prove the full effectiveness of the platform."
Micheal smiled, "Of course, the platform is designed for much
further travel, however I feel that just a short test will prove
effective. However I will need to talk to you in private to iron out all
the details." Micheal looked around at the group. His eyes fell on a bald,
chubby woman in a lab coat. "Marina, has your team built the virus's yet?"
Marina, the head of genetic research shook her head and held up two
fingers indicating that she required two more weeks to complete her task.
Micheal shrugged, "All right, that's all people, lets get back to work.
Paul, Marina, can you come to my office please?"
Micheal turned around and quickly strode off to a small sound
proof room that had his name on the heavy wood door. Inside the room was a
desk with a computer terminal. There were no other chairs in the room
except the one that he sat in while at work. The office was his private
area, nothing was made to promote other people to linger around. Any visit
over five minutes ussually spelled trouble for the interloper who happened
upon the room. There was no paper visible, all information was stored on
the mainframe or in personal units. The resident mechanical genius, Greg
Ward, had designed the system and the power unit that backed it up. The
only downside of the system seemed to be the infernal street light that
insisted on shinning outside the complex. Even Greg couldn't explain why
it had turned on with the system but since Greg's aptitude with machines
seemed to be mutant based to some extent anyways it was hardly suprising
that he didn't always understand why his machines worked. They just did
and that was enought to allow him membership in the group. Micheal sat
down behind his desk, activated the computer screen and waited.
As was procedure Marina entered the room five minutes later,
followed by Paul. Micheal smiled to himself, even when she is risking
suspension Marina knew not to rush into the room a second before five
minutes as procedures dictated. ~Such dedication,~ Micheal though, ~maybe
I'll be generous.~ The though left as soon as it entered him mind.
Ignoring Paul, Micheal turned to look at Marina, "Correct me if I'm wrong
but I do believe that you had promised me a working copy of the virus by,
and I quote, 'No later then Wednesday'. Wednesday ended a little over
three hours ago Ms. Lenear, how would YOU explain the delay?"
Marina's fingers twisted inbetween each other as she hastily tried
to remember the excuses that she had devised. "I...I'm t-t-terribly sorry
Micheal, but things d-d-didn't go as p-p-planned. We need at least another
week, maybe t-t-two t-t-to create a p-p-perfect model. T-t-things would be
quicker i-i-if we had a t-t-t...," her voice gave out on her and she
looked to the floor. Micheal continued to look into her face.
"I explained to you before, Marina, it is imposible for us to get
you a live specimen, even a dead specimen would create to much of a
commotion and we can't risk being found, not yet. Now, by this time the
D.N.A. samples we gave you will be either inert or to far deteriorated for
any continued testing. I will contact one of our people to, ummm, obtain
further samples but this will not go unpunished." Marina nodded and, as
protocol dictated left the room. Punishment was delt out by the
administrator in what ever fashion he deemed nesicary. The people below
him were not given any warning as to when or how the punishment would
manifest. Micheal turn to his computer screen and opened up a file listed
as TMETRVLT.ST1. He turned the screen around and looked at Paul.
"Congratulations are in order I guess." Micheal said.
"Not at all, sir. My unique abilities make me the most capable for
the job. I believe the only other person who comes close to me is you sir
and you can only travel 12 hours with alot of pain. If need be I can
extend my range to several weeks, although I will need alot of rest."
Micheal smiled visibly, not something he practiced on a regular
basis. "Good, then you fully understand why you are required. Now, I'm not
sure how much you know about this particular time devise so I'll start
from the beginning.
"As you may or may not be aware all other time machines in the
past worked on a dimensional rift type system. While it was posible to
travel back along your own time stream any changes that were made to that
time stream created a dimensional rift and a new time line. Therefore in
order to fully enjoy the fruits of you labour it was required to go from
one time stream to another and not being a natural creature of the new
time line it was important to watch the time stream or risk going on a
completely differant course. Since every miniute of every day a near
infinite set of new time streams are created by the near infinite number
of decisions people make, maintaining control was something of a chore."
Micheal stopped to look controller in his hand. "Another problem created
by this was if you wanted to go back and change some thing you had done it
was imposible since there was already a copy of you on that time stream.
To alter the time stream again you had to find an alternate in which you
didn't exist and change the mistake, or re-do all your work from the
beginning. Not exactly a practical system.
"This unit," Micheal indicated to the controller, "takes care of
that problem. Together with the platform it creates a temporary bubble in
the time stream. Through the bubble you can interact and tamper with the
time that you are back in or even create another bubble and stop yourself
from making a mistake. From there you have two choices. One is to step off
the platform. Doing this will put you in real time with the past, until
you reactivate the platform and move the bubble ahead everything will
change as you move through time normally. The other option is to get back
on the platform and move ahead in time. The changes that you have created
will follow you at a 24:1 ratio. We believe that there will be a visible
warping of the time as the bubble passes through, but the time it takes to
pass individuals in real time will be about 1 second, basically a
momentary nassea and it's over. Most people won't even notice."
Micheal reached into his desk and pulled out a needle and test
tube. On the test tube was the name Marina. He passed it over to Paul,
"I'm going to send you back 24 days. If you recall the genetics group was
recieveing needles then. You will replace Marina's test tube with this one
and ensure that she recieves it. If the time dilation calculations are
correct we should see a change within 24 hours." Paul silently picked up
the test tube and needle and placed it in his lab coat. Micheal indicated
to the controller, "The time and location are already programmed in, as is
the return time. If the platform fails then use your own powers to return
but not before Marina recieves the needle. Ineptitude will NOT go
unpunished." Micheal indicated to the door and Paul, after picking up the
controller walk out to complete his mission. Micheal turned the screen
around and closed the file TMETRVLT.ST1.
He opened a file named SUMMERSS.COT.
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