The Thread

By Edward Lucas

A future society learns to manufacturer complete bodies. People exchange their old bodies for new ones every 10 years or so. The technology developed to move a soul into a new body is then used to move an eternal soul into a new body in a different time. They hope to use this version of time travel to colonize the billions of years of earth’s prehistory. They hope to relieve the overcrowding caused by the eternal life that comes with new bodies. Unfortunately, a rogue time traveler changes history and society is destroyed, leaving the colonists stranded. Two teenaged girls are recruited to help repair the damage to history. They accept the quest, but as things develop they begin to question this story and the motives of the traveler they are helping. How fragile is history? Are there limits on our free choice? Mainly set in Texas in 1872.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Lucas
• Release date: Jul 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310167034

Edward Lucas

Edward Lucas is a sometimes resident of Van Zandt county, TX. He has a background in Nano Technology and is familiar with the dramatic developments in the fields of fabricated organs and DNA replication. He extends this knowledge of what will soon be into projections of what might come and the possible consequences of these changes.

Book preview

The Thread

Edward Lucas

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Edward Lucas

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Unlike more expensive print versions, this ebook may not be resold or given away to another person. The first part is available as a free download. Please feel free to give this to anyone you think will enjoy this work. The second part is available only to those who have paid to download. We are not talking about a lot of money here. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 1

The wind was picking up and the sunshine they had been enjoying was swallowed up by the clouds. The thunderstorm they had seen coming for the past 30 minutes was nearly upon them. Annie turned her horse to look back at the approaching storm. It was clear now that they were not going to make it home before the storm hit. She could see the lightning in the storm and the thunder rolled along the plains right behind it.

Come on said Mariah, I don’t want to get my new saddle wet.

Your wet leather will be the least of our problems if that storm contains hail replied Annie, yelling over the wind. We’re not going to make it home in time. We’ve got to look for someplace else.

There was a church up ahead and both girls headed there instinctively. First, it was the only shelter for a couple of miles and second because it was a familiar place. This was a cowboy church. The church had a rodeo arena out back and on Saturday nights, cowboys and cowgirls from the neighboring area gathered for the sport of rodeo. Young boys rode sheep, older boys rode bulls and girls raced their horses around a clover leaf barrel pattern.

Both girls had competed there several times, so this was a familiar place that seemed secure. Even the horses seemed to know that this was the clear choice. Their heads turned towards it with the girl’s and they took off at a trot.

Chester was a beautiful buckskin and Dakota was a sorrel. These were fast horses. The girls only had these horses for about two weeks now, but they seemed like old friends. Annie and Mariah had worked all summer to save up the money to buy a horse. They had intended to buy one competitive barrel horse between them. At the end of the summer, they had $3,000. Seemed like a lot to them, but in East Texas, competitive barrel horses often commanded prices more than 3X that amount. They had almost decided to save until next year, when they saw the ad for Chester on the internet. Annie fell in love with the picture and convinced Mariah to take a look.

Annie’s father drove them to the trainer’s barn, pulling their old four horse trailer. When they met Chester, Annie knew that this was the horse she was looking for. When she rode it, she knew this horse was something special. He was fast enough to nearly throw her out of the saddle on the turns and trained to the point that she had to do little to but hang on.

Her father didn’t have to ask what she thought of the horse when she returned from the run.

How much, he asked the trainer.

$2,000 was his answer.

Both girls squeeled in glee. And $1,000 left for tack celebrated Annie,

Her father glared at her, and she knew that she had committed the first sin of horse trading. Never let the other party know how much you have or what you are willing to spend. Her father had reminded her of that on the way over. Now, the cat was out of the bag, and the price was fixed.

OK, said her father looking at Annie crossly, looks like she thinks that is a good price.

The trainer nodded, sealing the deal and Annie got off and hugged the horse while her feet kept dancing. Mariah ran over and the two of them held the reigns while they jumped up and down squealing like the excited teenaged girls they were. The horse just continued to pant. He looked as if he was familiar with adolescent girls and this was totally expected.

Since you have money left, and two girls said the trainer with a sly smile, ‘maybe you will be interested in another horse."

The two girls looked at each other, then to Annie’s dad with a hopeful but almost sheepish look. Her dad rolled his eyes, but said OK, we can look.

The trainer went back to the barn and brought out a tall sorrel. Mariah approached this one first. This one had the color and stature of the horse she was looking for. As she sat daydreaming in school about riding a horse across the prairie with her hair streaming out behind her, this was the horse she was riding.

The trainer helped her saddle it and she mounted up. The sorrel was every bit as fast and well trained as the buckskin. Mariah returned with the same glow that Annie had shown on her test ride.

The horse is worth a lot more, said the trainer, but with the drought, no one is buying horses this year, and a lot are selling. I’m getting out of the horse business and this is my last one. If you will take it, I’ll let it go for $1,000.

That’s an offer I can’t refuse…now, said X’s father, looking at Annie again.

While the look was intended to be disapproving, there was a smile behind it, so Annie gave an acknowledging frown for a second before she went back to beaming.

The girls had competed on these horses the past Saturday and had won hands down, taking first and second. X’s dad had told the other fathers about the deal as they sat in the bleachers watching their daughters compete.

I know the place said Melody’s father. He must have been serious about leaving the business. There was a ‘for sale’ sign on the front lawn today when I went by. I don’t think he was there long. Seems like it was only about a month ago that he bought it.

The girls rode into the church yard as a few big rain drops were beginning to plop around them. The door was locked tight and there were no cars in the parking lot. Looking quickly around Annie spotted the old Conestoga wagon replica that the church used on trail rides. It had the traditional canvas top and offered at least some protection.

The girls brought the horses to the downwind side of the wagon and quickly pulled the tack off. The rain was coming in sheets now as they pushed the saddles inside the wagon and tumbled in after them.

X had always found thunderstorms exciting, and the rush to beat the storm left them both a bit breathless.

The rain came in waves, with the wind. The old canvas over the wagon sagged under the weight and drips formed in several places. The wind blew the rain in through the tied ends of the canvas. They tightened the drawstrings, but the rain still came in. The girls rearranged the boxes and crates that half filled the wagon to block the rain and settled down to wait out the storm. Thunderstorms were viscous, but they did not usually last long.

Suddenly, the canvas was lit up by a pair of headlights. Maybe it is Mom or Dad, thought X, but she couldn’t think why they would look for her here. She found a small hole in the canvas and peaked out. The approaching truck was not one she recognized.

Who is it? whispered Mariah peaking over her shoulder.

No one I know , said Annie stepping aside to let Mariah look.

I don’t recognize the truck said Mariah, still staring through the hole.

The truck stopped 10 feet from the wagon and two men got out. They wore cowboy hats and slickers like they were planning to walk in the rain. They walked to the back of the truck and started to pull a large box out.

Who is it? This time it was Annie whispering the question.

I don’t know whispered Mariah. One might be the trainer we bought the horses from. You look.

Annie took her turn at the peep hole, but couldn’t be sure. Between the dim light, the hats, the high collared coats and the rain, it was difficult to see more than general shapes.

The men carried the box right up to the edge of the wagon and set it down. Annie pulled back from the peep hole as they approached. Fear of unknown men comes instinctively to teenage girls. If it didn’t, the warnings from their parents are generally enough to make them cautious.

99.9% of the people in this world are good people and will help you rather than hurt you, her father had told her. Don’t be afraid of people. But sometimes, fear is a message from God. Follow your instincts.

Right now her instincts were telling her to stay quiet. Mariah followed her lead and stood still.

The men pushed the box under the wagon, then pulled two heavy gauge wires from the box. One wire they connected to the metal pipe fence that ran around the arena. The other they pulled to the front of the wagon. One man went back to the truck and took out a long metal pole that was tied to a ladder rack. He came back to the front of the wagon and began to pull the pole longer. It was apparently a telescoping pole with 4 extensions. That made the pole about 40 to 50 feet long.

There was a high voltage transmission power line that ran behind the church. A big metal tower was located on either side of the church property and the wagon was nearly in the shadow of the lines.

The man with the pole clamped the other wire to the pole. He went back to the truck and carried out a heavy ceramic block with a hinge on top. He fastened the bottom of the pole to the hinge, then tied two ropes to the pole about ¾ of the way up the pole.

He took the loose end of one rope and gave the other to the second man. The second man climbed onto the driver’s bench at the front of the wagon. The girls saw his silhouette in a flash of lightning. The thunder cracked at nearly the same time.

Both men began to pull on their ropes, and the pole began to rise, hinging up from the ceramic bloc

You sure this isn’t going to hit the lines, yelled the man in the front trying to be heard above the noise of the rain.

Measured it twice yesterday yelled the second man. It will be just like a lightning strike.

The pole was now up at about a 45 degree angle, pointed in the general direction of the power lines, but a little low.

OK, said the man on the wagon seat, you better run".

The man on the ground dropped his rope and ran for the truck. The man on the wagon seat jerked on his rope, pulling the pole towards the upright position, then dropped his rope.

The pole arched upwards. When the pole was about pointing to the nearest high voltage wire, a blue arc formed between the pole and the wire, crackling before the darkened sky.

The pole then began to drop back down. The electrical arc was broken and the pole dropped back to the ground. It bounced a couple of times, then laid still.

The body on the front seat slumped sideways on the seat. The wagon shifted a little as if something inside had shifted.

The man in the truck looked at his watch and appeared worried.

Chapter 2

The girls saw the blue flash, then a bright white light. Bright enough to hurt their eyes. They started blinking as their eyes adjusted. Annie felt a little sick and sat down quietly. The feeling passed, and her eyes adjusted to the new light. It was the light of a bright day, and the rain had stopped. There was no sound of the beating rain, nor rumble of thunder.

A flapping noise from the front of the wagon focused the girl’s attention on the man at the front again. The wagon pitched a little as he moved, apparently taking off his wet coat. They could see his shadow on the canvas.

The man turned, and they could see his hands untying the draw strings that held the canvas together at the front. The each took a breath, but sat still, hoping he wouldn’t notice them.

He tossed his wet coat inside, then pulled the drawstrings closed again.

Come out and look around Annie and Mariah, said the man. That will make it easier to understand. I’ll walk up the road a bit so you won’t feel threatened.

The girl’s were stunned to realize that the man was apparently fully aware of their presence, but at the same time, a little reassured that he knew their names.

Mariah went to the front and cautiously peaked out. Annie was right behind her. Mariah stood still, blocking Annie’s view.

What is it? asked Annie anxiously.

Mariah didn’t reply, she just stood there with her head out of the canvas. Annie gently pushed her to get her to move, when this didn’t work, she pushed a little harder. Mariah slowly pulled her head in and moved aside for Annie,

Annie pushed her head out and stood still like Mariah. This was not the church parking lot. There was no church, no parking lot, no arena, no power lines, no paved road. They were in a grassy prairie with a few short Mesquite trees poking up above the grass.

The sky was blue with a few white clouds. A familiar sun blazed like it usually did in Sept. in Texas. The topography of the ground looked familiar. They were near the top of a small rise, just like the one the church was built on. A line of scrub oaks marked the creek where it should be, but nothing else was familiar.

Come on out, embrace the truth, said the man.

He was standing about 100 feet up a dirt path that ran beside the wagon. Annie judged this to be a safe distance and climbed out. Mariah followed, not wanting to be left alone. Annie looked hard at the man. She couldn’t be absolutely sure from this distance, but he looked like the trainer they had bought the horses from.

The horses, she thought, and looked back behind her to where they had tied the horses. Both were still where they had tied them. They were munching calmly on the grass that had suddenly appeared beneath their feet. Their presence was reassuring, so Annie went back and hugged Chester. Mariah did the same with Dakota.

You are about to ask the wrong question said the man, returning the girls attention to him.

Where are we, demanded Annie, anger now replacing confusion.

You are still in the same place that you were when it was raining, said the man. "What you really what to know is