The Causality Loop: Place in Time, #4

By Wendy Nikel

Dodge Greenley is tired of being the go-between for his time-traveling family. All he wants is for them all to be able to live together peacefully in one era—is that too much to ask? But after breaking all the Rules of time travel in a desperate attempt to retroactively free his parents from the threat of the secret organization his father worked for a hundred years earlier, Dodge makes a startling discovery. It turns out there's someone else stalking his family up and down the timeline, and this time, the menace may be coming from within the Place in Time Travel Agency itself.

else stalking his family up and down the timeline, and this time, the menace may be coming from within the Place in Time Travel Agency itself.

Enlisting the help of his 22nd century coworker, Dodge sets off to the year 1915 to rescue his sister from a threat that might have originated at any point in their past, present, or future, proving once again that the greatest threat to time travelers is other time travelers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Weaver Press
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393966135

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Copyright Notice

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of World Weaver Press.

THE CAUSALITY LOOP

Copyright © 2019 Wendy Nikel

All rights reserved.

Published by World Weaver Press, LLC

Albuquerque, New Mexico

www.WorldWeaverPress.com

Cover layout and design by Sarena Ulibarri

Cover images used under license from Shutterstock.com.

First edition: October 2019

Also available in paperback - ISBN-13: 978-1732254671

This novella contains works of fiction; all characters and events are either fictitious or used fictitiously.

Please respect the rights of the author and the hard work they’ve put into writing this book: Do not copy. Do not distribute. Do not post or share online. If you like this book and want to share it with a friend, please consider buying an additional copy.

THE CAUSALITY LOOP

THE PLACE IN TIME TRAVEL AGENCY’S TEN ESSENTIAL RULES OF TIME TRAVEL

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1. Travelers must return to their original era as scheduled.

2. Travelers are prohibited from Jumping to any time they have already experienced.

3. Travel dates must be prior to the traveler’s birth.

4. Travel within the Black Dates is prohibited.*

5. Only pre-approved objects may be taken into the past.

6. Travelers are prohibited from disclosing information about PITTA or its excursions.

7. Travelers are prohibited from disclosing any foreknowledge to people of the past.

8. Travelers must avoid all unnecessary fraternization with people of past eras.

9. Extractions must occur in secure, unobservable locations.

10. After Extraction, clients must immediately return their Wormhole Devices to PITTA headquarters.

*for complete list of Black Dates, see PITTA handbook Appendix B

Genealogy Chart

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CHAPTER ONE: May 1, 2012

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If my boss, Mr. Clarke, knew I was here, he’d strip my company-issued watch from my wrist faster than you can say, Dodge Greenley, we’re not in 2134 anymore. But this past year has been nothing but tears and stress and sneaking around and nearly getting caught and trying and failing to make things right over and over, and I’ve run out of options.

And when all else fails, it’s time to set things on fire.

I tuck the shiny black orb into my pocket and stride across the dark, seemingly empty field. Seemingly being the key word.

The past is full of empty places—desolate areas, hidden from the public eye, where even satellite surveillance is spotty. In my present, there’s not a single place that isn’t constantly monitored by high-definition eyes in the sky. Good for crime. Not so good for trying to stay under the radar.

And under the radar was definitely one of the Trial Undertaking Bureau’s M.O.s. Thus the headquarters in the middle of nowhere, which took me months of research to find.

The building looks like a long-abandoned shed, out here in the middle of rural Pennsylvania. No one would give it a second thought, and that’s what they’re counting on. I pull a dark mask over my face. Not that anyone here would recognize me, but as a professional time traveler, I’ve learned the importance of keeping a low profile. And what I’m about to do now—aside from being completely illegal in either the present or future and against all the rules I’ve sworn to adhere to—isn’t exactly inconspicuous.

The entrance has some pretty high-tech locks on it for a beat-up storage shed, which assures me I’m in the right place. Fortunately, my technology outdates theirs by a hundred years, and my magnetic lock-pick makes quick work of their old-fashioned data pad. The door clicks open.

After slipping inside, I adjust the hood of my fireproof suit (again, a little 22nd century tech that no one in this time could possibly be expecting) and position the gas mask over my lower face. It’s the middle of the night, so no one ought to be here, but I have to check the area, just in case. I don’t want to hurt anyone, just stop them from destroying my life.

My boots echo through the corridors as I check each room.

Hey! Who are you?

I spin around and shoot my electronic stun gun straight into the man’s chest. He collapses to the floor in a heap.

The room he’d just emerged from glows blue with dozens of television screens, bulky and low-resolution, each showing angles from different closed-circuit cameras around the base. From what I can tell on the screens, the rest of the base is devoid of life. I haul the night watchman up the stairs and out into the crisp night air before descending into the headquarters again.

I check the other rooms anyway, just in case, and finally find myself staring at the door at the end of the corridor. The final door. The one I’m here for.

I pick the lock and step inside. There it is in all its shining glass-and-metal glory: the DeLorean Box. I touch it gingerly. So here it is. The Box. The time machine that set so much into motion. The reason I’m a time traveler. The reason I’m here.

In a way, I’m sad to see it go. It’s been such a part of the mythos of how my life came to be the way it is. On the other hand, I’ve thought it through and don’t see any other way. I pull a lighter from my pocket—a real Flamethrower XV7, not one of those pathetic little toys they used to light birthday candles back in the 21st century—and within seconds, the metal of the Box is white-hot and the glass is melting away.

The rest of the room catches fire quickly, fueled by paper and wood and other 21st century combustibles. The flames roar behind me as I retreat into the hallway.

My heart beats faster, but I know it’ll be okay. I’ve done my research, played out all the scenarios. This will work. It has to. From my conversations with Dr. Wells, I know that from this point on, he doesn’t hear from TUB directly again. After what happens to Elise, he and his Place in Time Travel Agency go even deeper into hiding, closing their New York storefront and operating via encrypted email for the next few decades, so if TUB wants him to build them a new Box, they’ll have the trouble of tracking him down first. They’ll go forward with the Continuum project—that much is already written in my own history and in the history books of my time—but they won’t be able to hop around from time to time, terrorizing people who are just trying to live out their lives.

At least I hope so.

CHAPTER TWO: May 1, 2134

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I’d considered that my parents might not be exactly thrilled that I’ve turned to a life of crime to keep our family together, but I convince myself that they’ll come around to my way of thinking once I explain things.

That’s not exactly how it plays out.

"You did what? Mum rises to her feet, and the tone of her voice immediately reverts me back a couple decades, to when I was a shaggy-haired kid just figuring out this whole family" thing.

You set TUB’s DeLorean Box on fire? Dad’s voice is calmer, lower, and somehow that makes it even more unnerving. He runs his fingers through his hair that was once blonde and now is more of an ashy gold, streaked through with silver that matches his everyday suit.

I used the utmost discretion, I assure them. There’s a special code Dr. Wells showed me last year when I took Cass back to the 20th century that keeps any unauthorized Jumps from being recorded in the DeLorean Box’s digital log. He wanted me to be able to visit her without explaining our whole family situation to the folks at PITTA in our present day. He said the fewer people who knew, the safer.

I agree with him there, Dad mutters.

I left no record of my Jump to the TUB headquarters, I continue. There’s no way anyone could connect me with the fire. And no one was hurt; I made certain. All I did was eliminate the threat.

You did all this so we could be with Cass? Mum asks.

"If TUB can’t Jump through time, they