Yes, We're Time Travelers: Across Time and the Multiverse

By N. E. Ottinger

A former Navy SEAL instructor and NAU physics professor, Dr. Henry Spere, hacked a Munich research lab's file right before its destruction. Months later, he wins a court challenge to his inheritance money from an unknown heir. That event is his call to develop the technology in those secret files.

The Rinklers introduce him to Rex Tavendor, who becomes the Professor's assistant.

The Rinklers do the upkeep on the farm property while the inventors work on their storage container time machine. The Professor's military mindset makes him astute at staying under the radar of bureaucrats and corporate oligarchies when purchasing electronic hardware and supplies. The team must hurry to "get out of Dodge" before elitists haul off their technology in a dreaded Waco-style raid.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jun 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781982229177

Book preview

GETTING ESTABLISHED

ONE

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

T HE TIME TRAVELERS had high expectations upon loading luggage into their van. The four briskly crossed the hotel parking lot with their open umbrellas. A sense of deep satisfaction came over them while gazing out of the hotel coffee shop window. The rain continued falling as the wall-mounted television featured some news on John F. Kennedy. Carefully they prepared for that Windale meeting. After breakfast, they walked out the double glass doors towards the bellhop curbside. On each side of the entrance stood a tall bronze statue of an Englishman blowing a horn. Finally, they returned to their van as the skies cleared.

Their day of glory came on that fateful day of October 14, 1962! At 8:15 am, they left in the new van they had bought almost two weeks earlier. Their careful planning paid off as they headed to a suburban area.

Seattle’s morning rush hour traffic had nearly ceased.

They felt dumb for carrying sensitive stuff in their van, but their adventurous spirit motivated them. The bright blue skies had a few clouds, with birds chirping pleasantly in autumn’s coolness. A silent ecstasy filled their senses. Cherry trees with gorgeous leaves of red and orange lined both sides of the street. They could smell the smoke of burning piles of raked leaves in front yards. The quiet suburban neighborhood surpassed the miserable dystopia they had just left behind.

Finally, they found the Windale house, parked, and exited the van. Leon Rinkler opened the front gate as the rest of them followed. He stood by the door and knocked.

Who is it? Art Windale asked inquisitively.

I am Leon Rinkler, the entrepreneur and organic farmer activist. Here’s my wife, Toni, who is also a farmer. That tall guy with the baseball cap is Dr. Henry Spere, the physics professor and electronic engineer. Standing beside him is his assistant, the lone inventor Rex Tavendor.

They all stepped inside, shook hands, and removed their coats. Leon went into more detail on his associate’s titles and occupations.

You’re the people who called us on the phone about our project, Mr. Windale recalled.

Mr. Rinkler disclosed, We’re into the Human Potential Movement and esoteric physics. You heard about lone inventors and the oppressive measures they had to endure. We’re on the leading edge of progress.

Can you give us more detail about your backgrounds-- Art requested.

We can’t go that fast. We need to begin by providing a foundation. First, let’s get comfortable, urged the Professor.

First, the visitors brought some baggage from the van. The three white cats played with them briefly and settled back near the window. The meeting in the living room had begun. Mr. Rinkler stood before the coffee table with his back to the fireplace. He wore a black Derby hat, rodeo shirt, cowboy boots, light blue and white striped tie, and white pants. He tried to contain his excitement as he prepared to speak. Rex and the Professor were on the couch. Mr. Windale sat in a green seat to the right of the sofa, with Mrs. Windale in a similar position beside him. To the left of them were Wong and Donna. They occupied the two chairs with cushions.

Toni stood a short distance to the right of Mr. Rinkler. After a few moments of silence, the room became electrifying with excitement. Mr. Windale’s face lit up with the expectation of a kid at Christmas.

Mr. Rinkler had begun his speech, Good morning to all of you. My name is Leon Rinkler, and as a former activist, I hope the elegance in my style will say it all. Yes, we sure have a lot to say! Some of the things I am about to tell you will sound like science fiction. In my talk, I must try not to go too fast. However, I must caution you to brace yourselves for what I will reveal. Keep these things completely secret! Our team is not military, but you know the term; it’s a ‘need to know basis--

A slight look of alarm appeared on the faces of Mr. Windale and the staff.

Mr. Rinkler said encouragingly, "No need to worry; it’s all good news. The term good news is an understatement. Therefore, for that purpose, I will create a little foundation here before we go too far. Our mission is to help you, Mr. Windale, your wife, and the staff accomplish your noble goal of the Carbogen Project as a tool for developing human potential, with the Superman ideal, which the founders of the world’s religions have attained. My team is fully prepared to help you accomplish this, including the money aspect. We share some mutual concerns. I finally want to make my point.

"Mr. Windale and staff, we are here because you are pivotal in securing humanity’s optimum future. It can only happen if our team allies with your group. In no way will you lose control of your objectives. We want to be your benefactor. Our team can certainly use your services. We shall have the most advanced system for developing our inner powers and abilities throughout human history. With our sincere efforts and God’s help, we stand at the door to achieving greatness for ourselves so tremendous that it staggers the imagination. It will change the future of humanity forever.

"I say it positively; together, we shall achieve power for our highest good. Trust me; we have a well-established philosophy of personal power that nobody can dispute! You have often said that you have the most excellent service to offer in the history of humanity. You often lamented that nobody seemed interested!

We carefully studied your research and past accomplishments. Rex met you briefly before returning to New York in 1983. He regrets that, at the time, he did not stay around for more of your services. However, it was a life-changing experience for him. He was the one who started our great mission--

You aren’t talking about some reincarnation crap? Because I never met or worked with him before, Art objected.

As I said, I must build a foundation to support my statements. Please bear with me. I will explain later, Mr. Rinkler removes his Derby hat and holds it in his right hand. Our team arrived about three weeks ago after we finished some preparations for our mission. Some items in those two cases from the left of the couch provide physical proof for our claims. Before we open and look at those cases, I will continue my talk; twenty-two days ago, we came from a town north of Phoenix, Arizona. That part of our journey is not notable.

Then Rex got off the couch to get a small item out of a briefcase. He handed it to Leon and returned to the sofa.

I’m sure you all read; H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, said Leon as he held the book.

Mr. Windale responded, Yes, certainly. I read it as a teen and wished it could be possible someday. Since then, I have considered a time machine as something too far out for practical purposes. I never dismissed the idea. All I have to say is, the technology is still too far in the future.

It would be wonderful to accomplish. But I wouldn’t speculate on it too much, said Mrs. Windale.

You know this book is science fiction, Mr. Rinkler continued. -but what we did twenty-two days ago is not science fiction but all fact!

C’mon, are you saying you’re from the future? Are you pulling our leg? Mr. Windale retorted with disbelief.

What kind of joke is this? asked Donna rhetorically.

This is going too far! Sure, my staff ventures beyond society’s consensus. However, we are still rational, thinking people! Mr. Windale complained while waving his hands.

Take your business elsewhere if you can’t furnish us with tangible proofs! said Mrs. Windale with a glazed look.

Come on now; our staff has better things to do than talk nonsense! I think you all should leave! ordered staff member Wong.

Wong got up and gestured for them to leave. The four-time travelers carried their stuff back into the van and returned to the hotel.

Morning came with a call memo at the hotel’s front desk. Leon returned the call from staff member Donna. She apologized for the rudeness the day before and told them to return. They still had all their stuff in the van. Without having breakfast, they all hurried back to the Windale residence. Leon knocked and waited.

Sorry for being so abrupt; the Cuban missile crisis has kept us apprehensive. I’m sure you understand, Donna explained as she opened the door.

Certainly, we do, Leon acknowledged. First of all, I need to bolster your spirits. The missile crisis will end quickly without any disaster. Our President will show his moral fiber to the Soviets. They will back off.

Their moods improved. The four of them stepped into the living room and made themselves comfortable. Sonia gave them some donuts and coffee.

Again, Mr. Rinkler stood before the coffee table with his back to the fireplace. He wore his black Derby hat, yellow shirt, cowboy boots, light blue and white striped tie, and blue pants. Everyone else resumed the same seating arrangement as the day before.

Rex first got the baggage from the van to prove their claims.

Mrs. Rinkler said, Please listen to him; we have all the physical proofs you need. Why do you think we brought these cases? Isn’t he believable?

Rex hands Leon the book H.G. Wells, The Time Machine.

Okay, let’s see where this leads us, Mr. Windale pondered.

Mr. Windale and staff, by the expressions on your faces, I see you got serious questions, but please wait-- Mr. Rinkler said as if expressing a deep, hushed-up secret.

Everyone waited with bated breath as Mr. Rinkler placed the book on the coffee table. He motioned with his left hand and resumed his hushed tone after a short pause.

Get ready for the big announcement. Twenty-three days ago, we left a farmhouse in Cornville, roughly north of Phoenix, Arizona. That part of our journey is not notable, he lowered his voice. What is notable is that we also traveled through time!

Mr. Rinkler turned his head to his left. Then tossed his hat towards the kitchen with a swing of his right arm and shouted, Mr. Windale and staff, yes, we’re time travelers!

A wild look of amazement came to everyone in the room. Even the cats by the window suddenly gave a wide-eyed look.

Mr. Rinkler continued, Most visitors from the future are either empirical visions or phantoms. We’re not! We’re a scouting team that left your future on March 18, 2024. We arrived here in 1962 on September 22 in a time machine. The apparatus travels with its container across time and geographic distance--

Are the four of you the only members of the team? Mr. Windale inquired.

Mr. Rinkler answered, Yes, that’s right; there are no others! We heard sketchy stories about other time travelers and their research. We had no collaboration with them. We believe in doing our own thing and having control over it. We have no desire to share our technology with governments or corporate oligarchs! We are not joiners. Our connection with you is the result of careful deliberation.

Thank you for clarifying that, said Mr. Windale.

Mr. Rinkler lectured, "Please let me continue without interruption. Rex and Dr. Henry Spere are both inventors and builders of the machine. Dr. Henry Spere financed the project with money from an unknown heir. We consider ourselves to be sovereign and answer to no one. We were sure glad to do without more crew members.

"We improved the H.G. Wells time machine modal by adding the ‘Quantum-geometer’ to enable it to change its location on the earth’s surface and move across time. We would be too limited without that function.

"We finished building our time machine on February 20, 2024, three weeks before coming here. During those remaining weeks, we added accessories for our trip. Some of them were part of the machine, some not. We added them for our safety, comfort, and efficiency.

"The ‘Department of Homeland Security started after the destruction of an international commerce center in New York City during the beginning of the 21st century. That department fought domestic terrorists. The tremendous advancements in the global networks of computers worldwide made its mandates enforceable! We didn’t want to stick around to find out if overzealous elements in that department were hot on our trail. Our electronic expenditures could have led to a knock on the door. We were so grateful to finish our time machine before May 31, 2024.

"The former Soviet Union ended in 1989. However, its ideological roots became deeply entrenched in our media and universities. The liberal Democrats, secular humanists, and leftist incumbents acted as a shadow regime that corrupted and reorganized the system. John Bircher’s charges became vindicated.

You might ask why the people didn’t take up arms and revolt earlier. It is a long story related to the Marxist concept of ‘political correctness.’ It involved some rewriting of history books in public schools. A lengthy process of brainwashing started earlier. The people still had their guns yet did not revolt! Yes, an underground resistance movement began in the earlier 1990s. But the movement faced stalemate through inaction and infighting. Various citizen militias formed that were mostly ‘sunshine patriots’ with no real guts. Those were some weekend warriors along with hardcore veterans….

Art insisted, Sorry to interrupt. Please leave future history for later. The first thing we’re interested in is your journey here. What happened on your day of escape? Please provide us with details about your improved H.G. Wells machine. Leon, please fill us in!

At that point, Leon stopped talking as he passed around some pictures of the machine and waited. Some of them were self-explanatory, with notes written on the back. Windale and staff browsed through them silently.

We had tremendous resources for our project. Some unwanted people kept coming back into our lives to delay progress. Most of them were easy to dismiss. Jake, the misguided fanatic, couldn’t’ mind his own business. At a critical time, Toni and I avoided him by appearing on vacation while staying in the Cornville farmhouse to prepare for our escape. Our supposed leave started on January 20, 2024, while our next-door neighbor took care of the yard of our Cottonwood home.

TWO

ESCAPE COMES FIRST

L EON GAVE HIS narrative to his astonished listeners, "Then, on that fateful day of March 18, 2024, our journey across time was about to begin. Rex joined our ride to Sedona while the Professor stayed home. We arrived there by late morning. We looked around in coin shops and bought some more pre-1962 U.S. currencies to escape through time. Weeks earlier, we had accumulated about $15,000 of that currency.

"I expected to do some lecturing that early evening in Camp Verde. I had advertised my upcoming speech in the local newspaper the week before. My organic farmer activism earned me some unknown enemies. With the trouble brewing, it became evident that there would be no upcoming speech. It also became apparent that I could not give a cancellation notice. I will not show up.

"Finally, we returned to Cottonwood and stopped for lunch at a restaurant. After some small talk with the server, we ordered pancakes and coffee. Trouble started once I noticed two new cooks from a ‘temp agency’ handling peak load. The two temporary workers stood at the cashier and showed the manager their time tickets.

"Our table was across from the cashier station. Rex noticed that one of them had dropped something while reaching into his pocket for his time ticket. The worker quickly reached down to put the item back in his left pocket. He nervously glanced around to see if anyone noticed the object he dropped.

"Then Rex recognized the item as rat poison. He often used it in his old farmhouse while remodeling. Immediately, I had my hunch about them. They meant big trouble. Before moving through the kitchen door, they both turned their heads and gave us a cold hard look.

"The server placed our order on the table. I saw the food and sensed the new cooks were rogue undercover C.I.A. agents. Back in the kitchen, they poisoned the food the server had just brought us! We had to leave quietly and secretly. We exited with stealth when the place became crowded with a church group. We left cash on the table and exited.

"After getting into the car, I told Toni and Rex, ‘They tried food poisoning to keep me from lecturing. I will fix that! Today is the day of escape. We got nothing to lose.’

"Once out in the parking lot, we saw the agent’s vehicle parked behind the building. Rex remembered the temp’s brown car pulling into the lot. For crying out loud, how stupid can those agents be? Their federal plates were a dead giveaway!

"I drove up to that car and stepped out. I left a note on their windshield that said, ‘…Don’t mess with Leon Rinkler.’

"Very quickly, I got my hunting knife. I cut the valve stems of the two front tires. No one saw us. At first, I thought of shooting some holes in their car. I figured that it would bring us unwanted attention from the Cottonwood police. We owed those stone-faced killers no respect! It was a question of not making our escape any harder.

"I scanned the back of the restaurant and saw a box truck making a delivery. A ramp extended down from its open backdoors and through the open gate of a chain-linked fence. The delivery person must be inside with a hand truck full of boxes while leaving the closed back door unlocked.

"Suddenly, I saw the two cooks appear through the back door. They saw us, and one yelled, ‘Hey, you….’ At that moment, I ran back to my car and quickly jumped inside. The two cooks came charging out of the enclosed area, and both fell over plastic bottles that rolled from a case left on the ground. While lying there, one of them reached for his concealed gun. It was too late for him. We had already escaped to the road. The temporary worker did not have time to fire.

"Rex drove us out of the parking lot and towards Cornville. We got a slight sense of relief upon entering the rural road. We nervously watched for any more signs of trouble.

"I suddenly got a cell phone call from my next-door neighbor in Cottonwood. He was surprised that I returned from vacation early. The guy on the phone described an event that happened a few hours ago. He saw police cars in front of my house, with officers stepping out to look around. A few residents talked with one of the officers. Three people stepped out of a green-colored station wagon and filed an incident report about me. The three individuals were Rex’s sister, cousin, and ex-friend Jake. They complained about me confronting them with a shotgun. The call from my neighbor only lasted for one minute. I did not have the patience to listen anymore.

"We headed back to our Cornville farmhouse. As we continued on the rural road, each moment grew more suspenseful. Finally, upon our arrival in Cornville, we faced a roadblock ahead. My neighbor in Cottonwood must have turned against me by calling the police about us going to Cornville. I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Toni asked, ‘Wow, did we stir up a hornet’s nest!’ As a farming activist, I had a second passport. It enabled me and others to get through roadblocks and random checkpoints.

"Then, finally, those particular advantages had run out. I had a hunch about us getting interrogated. Our constitutional rights were at risk. They framed us for crimes we did not commit!

"Trouble awaited us. We had to fight through that police roadblock to arrive at the farmhouse shop to escape in our time machine. I sat in the back and quickly opened the window to aim for a handheld, electromagnetic pulse weapon. Its directional pulse disabled the police cars and radios, so they could not chase us nor call for backup. Our device then burst into flame from a short. Toni, who sat in the front passenger seat, pulled its cord from the cigarette lighter and threw it out the window. Then she grabbed glass bottles of oil mixed with nails and smashed them on the road. We initially prepared these gadgets and materials in case Jake followed us. I did not want to fire my .45 automatic. Then the torrential rains started again.

"Also, we created an Al Capone-style smoke screen from an oil injection into the hot tailpipe through a line controlled by a valve under the dash. Rex drove as nobody seemed to be following us. The wet rainy day worked to our advantage. As we approached the farmhouse, Rex applied the brakes too hard. The lack of traction caused us to slide into the ditch and get stuck in the thick mud. The wheels would spin. We had no choice but to abandon the car in front of the farmhouse. We both were painfully aware of our abandoned car, pointing directly to the farmhouse. I grabbed the case of stuff I purchased from the Sedona coin shops. The three of us quickly ran uphill toward the farmhouse in the torrential downpour. We approached the backyard to look for Dr. Spere. We checked inside the barn and workshop, then entered the barn to look at the time machine called ‘the Time Shuttle.’ The shop connected to the barn.

"We ran into the farmhouse and found Dr. Spere napping on the couch. He was in his robe after just getting out of the shower. We were all angry at how unprepared he was for our urgencies. The television news reported the roadblocks. The newscaster mentioned the oil slick and nails on the road that caused a few car accidents without injuries! Dr. Spere sat up to listen to the radio. He still sounded somewhat sleepy.

"While rubbing his eyes, he told us to move our stuff while he listened to the news. He almost started to walk into the kitchen to pour some coffee. Toni threw a pillow at him and yelled, ‘…this is no time to be lazy! We don’t have time for more news! They framed us two.’

"I explained that we just broke through the roadblock. The Professor entered his bedroom to grab his clothes, socks, and boots. While he was getting dressed, the rest of us started gathering cases of the stuff to haul out and place in the time machine.

"Although we saw no one following us on the road, we still had to hurry before the arrival of a SWAT team! The police can see our car out front.

"Finally, the Professor joined us. Each of us put on a tan-colored trench coat and hat. Our garb was the ‘Humphrey Bogart’ style. Toni and I were alone in the living room. We looked out the window at our car stuck next to the mailbox. We thought about a delay tactic.

"Toni pointed at the car and asked me, ‘Why don’t we move it out of the mud? Why not grab a 4x4 beam and yank it out? Also, a small piece of carpet would help. We must move the car before somebody spots it. The news report already gave a vehicle description and our license plate number! Let’s hurry up and run out there.’

"I responded, ‘Yes, Toni, that was quick thinking. We need some immediate action to stall the inevitable. A delay tactic could buy us precious time to finish hauling our boxes.’ Then suddenly, we saw a car driving by and stopping behind our stuck vehicle. A passenger in the car grabbed a clipboard, copied down our plate number, and drove off.

"I told Toni, ‘I’m sure glad none of us were out in the yard. The strangers who noticed our car could have us held up at gunpoint for the police to arrive!’ We were stunned by what went on outside.

"The Professor suddenly walked into the room and asked, ‘I thought you were both busy hauling boxes out to the shuttle! I walk into this room and find you standing around and talking! Get moving.’

"I said nervously, ‘Professor, there’s no time to explain. We discussed moving our car before somebody sees it.’

"He replied, ‘Your plan is too late! I say, forget about it. Hurry up and finish hauling those boxes into the shuttle.’

"Dodging the rain, we ran back and forth between the main house and the shop. We grabbed all we needed to place inside the storage area of the time machine. Fortunately, we pre-packed the most critical stuff weeks and days earlier in mall-marked boxes.

"We were halfway through hauling boxes when the trouble started as the wind blew the side door shut. Unfortunately, we also got locked out of the house! I found a long 4x4 beam and smashed the side kitchen window for us to get into the house. No other windows were suitable for a quick enough entry. Most of the windows were too small or needed a ladder to climb. Unfortunately, the broken window left a sign of a break-in for the police to note.

"We all stood in the living room after Rex looked around the house. Then Toni gazed out of the small window near the living room door and said, ‘Oh my, we have trouble!’

"I asked, ‘Exactly what kind of trouble are we facing?’

"Toni replied impatiently, ‘Take a look!’

"Then we all saw a SWAT team van almost ready to pull off the road. They spotted us! It was too late now! We all ran like graphed apes into the shop. Quietly Dr. Spere locked the door of the shop. The shop window revealed five SWAT team officers with assault rifles and pistols. They were very slowly snooping around. Very quickly, we all stepped into the time machine. Quite nervous and out of breath, we all took seats. Rex started the main power generator, read the gauges, and set the operational sequence. The controls were at one end of the Time Shuttle, looking almost like a cockpit.

"It was like being in an idling car, not yet going anywhere. Then Rex remembered leaving the Professor’s black attaché case in the bedroom! The case contained the original copies of papers and data storage drives from Steinz Labs. Those secret reports can never fall into the hands of the government. Suddenly I remembered forgetting the old beat-up suitcase in the cellar! It contained a stash of pre-1962 United States currency, our fake IDs, and other papers to help establish new identities. First, we thought of fixing our mistake after arriving in 1962. Then I said, ‘Certainly not! We would create a terrible timeline if the two cases stayed behind! We must not even allow it the ghost of a chance to happen.’

"The Professor had a plan; he quickly explained it to me. First, he ran out of the time machine toward the shop’s security control panel and activated the remote loudspeaker hidden in the brush behind the barn. Over the speaker, he said, ‘We’re over here.’ We need help! Then prerecorded gunshots followed! He selected the system option of disguising his voice to make him sound like some helpless older man yelling for help and then getting shot.

"Our fake gunshots diverted the SWAT team towards the far end of the property. The next step was to follow the Professor back to the house. His Navy SEAL training helped us proceed with stealth. He acknowledged my fear and told me to follow his instructions. Very quietly, he opened the side door of the farmhouse. Silently he walked towards his bedroom while I stepped down into the cellar to look for the suitcase. The SWAT officers were still out of range while searching for a shooting victim through the bushes.

"The Professor and I found the cases and proceeded down the hallway. Then I glimpse through the kitchen window of another SWAT van in the driveway. We heard the new SWAT officers coming in through the side kitchen door.

"Very quietly, we walked in the opposite direction in the hallway. Fortunately, the noise of the rainstorm masked all of our footsteps. We went down into the cellar and came up with a chair to block the door closed. That stunt would stall the officer’s progress as we climbed out the window. The door faced a wall straight ahead. The stairs turned right. We returned and placed an old wooden crate under the cellar window facing the barn. I opened the window and secured the hook to keep it open.

"A cold chill moved through us when an officer upstairs told his buddies to run a quick check for basement windows outside the house. We overheard them and surely thought our escape was doomed. Suddenly something happened upstairs to delay the officer’s actions. In the living room, the landline phone rang.

"‘Hello, this is police officer Horton. Who is speaking?’ asked the officer on the speakerphone set at high volume.

This is Dr. Henry Spere, officer. What happened?

Two fleeing felons broke your side living room window and ransacked the place! the officer said.

I am in Phoenix, ready to return home and assess the damage….

"Down in the cellar, we listened with utter disbelief! Yes, that was a future version of Dr. Spere on the speakerphone delaying the cops so we could escape. The event proved that our journey through time would be a success! Dr. Spere’s future counterpart will eventually stop by to help us survive. Regardless of our shock at what transpired upstairs, we had to control ourselves and escape immediately! First, I pushed the Professor’s case out the window. As the Professor stepped on the crate, it made a creaking sound. He successfully climbed out and returned to the time machine in the barn.

"Upstairs,’ an officer asked, ‘Horton, did you hear something?’ he answered, ‘No, it’s just the sound of rain and wind blowing leaves around.’

"When I heard those remarks, I quickly picked up the crate, turned it, and placed it back down. I pushed my suitcase outside and struggled out of the window. I had no trouble fitting through the window since my obesity problem had ended months ago. I quickly stood up and ran with the loaded suitcase towards the barn. Trees and boulders had hidden most of the house from view. Then just as I was about twenty feet from the barn door, I saw Toni standing there anxiously.

"She said to me, ‘Leon, I just couldn’t bear the suspense of waiting for you!’

"I saw an officer running towards us from the woods a moment later. He fired a warning shot as we ran into the shop. Thanks to the inclement weather, we made it safely inside. She helped me to bolt and block the door with a metal bench. We ran towards the middle of the barn, entered the time machine, closed the door, and sat down. The equipment idled as the Professor took control with Rex as co-pilot. We waited in idle mode as Rex activated the jump sequence. We watched the power meter slowly rise. A tank circuit sets the power for the time field generator and the Chronodyn antenna. We waited for the green light to go on.

"We kept saying, ‘Come on, come on.’ But the power level did not climb fast enough! Initially, we blamed the lightning storm outside. My face had an expression of pale gray. I kept saying, ‘Please, Jesus, keep us safe.’ All of us broke out in a cold sweat during those tense moments. We all realized the terrible fate that awaited the world if we failed to escape! We asked ourselves why we did not start the warm-up process while running back and forth to the house.

"Meanwhile, the SWAT team outside prepared to storm the barn. We heard someone say, ‘Quick, Frank over here.’ Toni reached over to shut and lock the shuttle’s door. We could only travel with the door properly closed and locked. Finally, the green light came on after intolerable suspense.

"The banging outside the barn stopped as megaphones blasted, ‘This is the police! Ten law enforcement officers are surrounding you. We have warrants for your arrest. We ask Leon and Toni Rinkler to come out. Have your hands up! Do not try to take any hostages! We shall force our way in if you do not obey! Surrender, or we will shoot! You have twenty-five seconds!’

"The voice began the count, 1…2…3, while, inside the Time Shuttle, we heard the whine of the generator. With the ceiling lights turned off, we had a better look outside with the view screens. September 22, 1962, was our destination point. Fortunately, our coordinates were pre-set weeks earlier. We planned far enough in advance.

"At the count of twenty-three, we throw the switch and instantly disappear. Then Rex did a little manual override before going to autopilot on the predetermined course. We did this out of curiosity. It almost seemed like a reckless maneuver. We briefly did a ‘time phase ninety’ forward. In that condition, we do not travel in time but are invisible and intangible to the outside world. It almost put us in hyperspace. We could see and hear things outside the Time Shuttle in ordinary three-dimensional space. The audio-video monitors gave us a regular perspective of the outside environment. On the viewer, we saw SWAT team officers breaking into the shop. They came in and said, ‘There is nobody here!’

"The police broke the shop door with a battering ram. We had the excitement of being perfectly safe and hidden like a phantom. Our curiosity was overwhelming. We watched and heard the things going on in the shop. The SWAT team said a bright green light shone from the window above the door. They called it a flare that lasted for three seconds. They also mentioned a buzzing and crackling sound accompanying the light. There was a two-minute delay in the assault on the shop. They thought we had prepared explosives or incendiary devices to use against them.

"Oh, how we relished the excitement! We shouted and laughed. The SWAT team stormed into the space we occupied without interaction! It was like a Waco Raid. The main difference was that the SWAT team found nobody home and nothing to link us with the Professor. The SWAT officer thought Toni and I were trying to escape into a stranger’s house and possibly steal something or take hostages! The house, barn, and shop did not show our close connections. The SWAT team had no objective but to hunt for Toni and me and figure out our escape. The SWAT team collected no items, looking around for any signs of theft or violence. The findings were inconclusive. The inside of the house looked a bit ransacked. It seemed like someone had searched for stuff to steal.

"The SWAT team found the hidden door to the tunnel leading to the wash. Authorities speculated we hid in some cave near Flagstaff. Initially, we only wanted to fake our deaths by staging a boating accident or being reported missing while hiking! We did not want to get framed as ‘serial killers.’ Initially, we planned to escape in mid-April, not March 2024.

"The journey at regular time rate and direction only lasted three minutes. Then without warning, we raced backward in time. The U-turn occurred without stepping out of hyperspace. The view was like an airplane ride as our geographic location also changed.

We choose to avoid traveling instantaneously on the geographic distance. The reason was to enjoy watching the scenery move and flow around us. It was the sheer joy of discovery.

"The journey took only eighteen minutes from our onboard perspective, known as bubble-time. The inside boundary of our time field held our air like a bottle. The shuttle did not need to be airtight. A generator replaces our oxygen by breaking CO2 back into oxygen and carbon. It’s almost like being in a submarine. He was previously in a U.S. Navy sub.

"The oxygen generator is only necessary for longer trips. While on the route, we all felt strange. Physically within the shuttle, things appeared standard. We felt the difference in our inner senses. The shuttle glowed slightly with green fog. The time field generator supplied us with a gravity force of ¼ g so that we did not float around the shuttle. We still wore seat belts, just in case. We did not need them. The wall-mounted instrument panel had television screen viewers. The one in the middle displayed technical data in numbers, graphics, and charts. We could see outside by watching the screens on both sides of the center. It was like looking at a movie in fast motion backward. We also had audio. The clock on the control panel displayed the passage of outside time in an odometer-like fashion. The difference was that it was a set of electronic display images with no mechanical moving parts.

"The images are a digital system. It showed units in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and tens of years. It would also display what day of the week a date had occurred. The computer governs the system. We come from where they are a lot more advanced.

"We called the machine the ‘Time Shuttle.’ We considered building a space-time portal where you walk through a door frame-like structure into the past. We marveled at how easy it would be to carry a house full of stuff that way. It would mean just walking back and forth! We only objected to this concept because we wanted to leave 2024 entirely. A portal would leave a structure behind in 2024 that the authorities would find. Someone could have set the gateway with explosives or incendiaries to self-destruct after we stepped through, but we would lose the equipment. Materials carried across could have built another portal.

"That still sounded like a bad idea. However, we confidently expect to construct one in this era. The project almost started. However, it stopped once Rex realized it could take too long. I had to get after him about it. A dual structure frame would have allowed us to bring the other end of the portal with us. We already have the complete blueprints for building it. We had to escape from 2024 immediately!

"We built the Time Shuttle into a storage container. It was about the size of a motorhome. It had only one small window near the door. A two-part lid is outside and around the window. Its control is inside the shuttle.

"The craft rested on four lengths of stainless-steel rails mounted underneath. It had no wheels. We were smart enough to leave no notes or papers for the authorities to confiscate. We trusted nobody with our exact blueprints and manual. We intended to place them all in the machine. The only mistake was forgetting the two briefcases that we had to retrieve.

"Rex made most of his purchases at electronic surplus events known as Hamfests. Dr. Spere’s background in the U.S. Navy proved helpful in getting parts otherwise unobtainable to civilians. He contracted out the fabrication of some custom-built electronic devices. None of the work that he contracted out was traceable to time travel. The researchers did not ask about the real purpose of those custom-built devices. His respectability enabled him to avoid such questions. Dr. Spere sought a ready-made armored container, but time ran out. We installed an armored aircraft door and frame.

"There were two air vents along the sides near the top. They only opened and closed from within the craft. Inside we sat on wall-mounted benches facing opposite each other. The floor and ceiling held a ‘chronodyn time field antenna’ in the cabin’s center. The craft had a cockpit with a storage bay and door at one end. Overhead, lights lit the interior. It had its passenger door near the left side of the cockpit. The pilot seats faced away from the passengers.

"All the lights consisted of diodes that emit light in response to electricity. They are called LEDs. They had no filaments that eventually burned out. There are no bulbs to replace. We only used the latest state-of-the-art product called GCL-lights that never burn out. Our television screens are flat as a wall picture. None of our electronics has vacuum tubes. Absolute reliability is paramount!

"Along the edges of the ceiling and floor ran plastic pipes containing a metal rod antenna lobe and one length of ferrite rods wound with wire-like in an electric motor. They act as a resonator to shape and distribute the time warp field of the chronodyn antenna. The green outer industrial coating provided camouflage while it was parked. We set our exact arrival point beforehand. Also, an advantage of viewing across time involves seeing in advance if the trip will occur safely to make course corrections before leaving. Equipment failures before a voyage are foreseen in advance and avoided entirely.

"A temporal feedback circuit prevents trip malfunctions through foresight. In this fashion, all trips are safe trips only. Let us not get carried away. Dr. Spere is adept at explaining the math involved in more layperson’s terms. Rex can better expound on time travel technology travel than I can.

"Now, back to our journey. Finally, we arrived in the national forest just north of Seattle, Washington. We landed near a ravine hidden by some dense brush. Suddenly we all got up out of our seats with wild anticipation. I opened the door and looked outside. The lush green forest with a summer set Vista was a sight. I then yelled, ‘Praise the Lord.’

"We stepped out of the shuttle into a clearing surrounded by brush. A great sense of joy swept over us. We all shouted for joy. We noted; that this is real; we are finally here! Now there is a significant point I must make. A built-in factor of time travel into the past is the Regenesis factor. It happens if the time distance is at least thirty years into the past. After you arrive there, a reversal of aging occurs. The process takes a few days to complete. If you’re over thirty-to-thirty-five years old, you regress to that age. If you are already at that age or younger, then nothing happens. A restoration of vitality occurs anyway, regardless of age.

However, you still resume aging. An electronic device can stop that from happening. Timelock resetting can halt your aging. The process has something to do with the phantom DNA effect discovered by scientists in our era. We lived in the woods next to our time machine for four days. We stayed in tents until the process was complete. We had to do this because of secrecy. We could not let outsiders see us while getting younger! We used the electronic device that locks in our zero-time reference. Yes, we stopped aging.

Rex then opens a case to get out some pictures.

Leon passes them around and continues, Here are some pictures of our team before our trip. Notice that we were in our fifties and sixties. Now, look at us! Our biological ages are thirty to thirty-five years of age! We are non-aging! Windale and staff, you also shall do the same! Now I like to repeat that I solved my obesity problem months before leaving in 2024. My escape through that farmhouse cellar window required me not to have a potbelly!

Everybody responded with laughter!

Then Leon continued his talk, "Four days after our arrival, our Regenesis had finished. We left the time machine hidden in the woods. With some backpacks and baggage, we hiked to a picnic area and hitched a ride to a bus stop. We came to Seattle, checked into a hotel, and bought a van. Our books and historical records from 2024 listed winnings of horse races. Our team has false identity papers and backup stories to hide our past. We pretend to have been overseas missionaries and investors. We integrate into society and keep a low profile. We function with the coping strategies of a spy.

"Imagine how outrageous it would be to check into the hotel as a bunch of old folks. Our IDs would not show our actual age. Once we checked out, how would we explain our younger appearance upon check out?

"We expect this time and place to be our base of operation. From here, we will run time travel missions into the past and the future on this and other timelines. Eventually, we shall find a new home base. However, we are now satisfied with settling down in this time and place.

Mr. Windale and staff, we extend our hand to you to join us in our quest.

THREE

THE PRESENTATION

A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF excitement filled the room at the Windales. Rex Tavender opened a caseload brought back from the year 2024. The items included a laptop computer, some CDs, and DVD movies. The three cats came in and gave their friendly meow as they jumped up on the table to inspect the cases and items. Their actions could be called a cat scan. After satisfying their curiosity, they jumped back to the floor and sat in a corner to observe.

Let’s go through the stuff and then have a briefing, said Leon Rinkler.

The short exanimation led to a fifteen-minute break. Then everyone met in a room with a conference table, comfortable seats, a blackboard, and many blank notebooks. Two reel-to-reel tape recorders transcribed the upcoming meeting. The front of the room window gave a beautiful mountain View.

Then Leon said, Of course, you all know about keeping this completely secret! It does not mean you cannot benefit others with some of this knowledge; do not reveal the source. Use a front! We do not want to fall into the nonsense that suggests we should share indiscriminately. The question of what ought to be is irrelevant. What is relevant is what is. Art Windale, of course, you knew the importance of keeping secrets when you served in the U.S. military. It’s just a stern reminder. Remember to place any tapes and sensitive notes about this meeting in an underground safe--

Rex then remarked, As a word to the wise, I would say, always be mindful of the harm that can be done by trying to do too much good! And always remember, the best way to share with other people, in general, rests on the firm foundation of things kept private….

Enough said, interjected Sonia Windale.

Leon said, We shall begin a workshop. I will mainly discuss our future history. Rex and the Professor will lecture about our time machine and the physics involved. First, let’s have a short break and have some food.

Some small talk transpired for the next thirty minutes as they ate doughnuts and drank coffee. Rex told some jokes.

For about three hours, they watched Digital Video Disks showing future news. Leon explained some socioeconomic aspects of his time. Then they listened to some 1973 country songs. Leon then got out his cell phone and held it up for all to see. Then everybody checks it out to see what the buttons mean. He humorously tries to call his Realtor in Clarkdale, Arizona. Of course, nothing happened except for a displayed message that said, No signal. It meant the call did not go through.

You better believe it! We’re in 1962, not 2024. Speaking of time zones, this is a big joke! said Leon as he laughed loudly.

Did you have to go through the operator to make a call on your cell phone? Wong asked,

We started direct dialing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Thumbnail-Sized computers took the place of operators, Leon answered.

Does it have something to do with your body cells? asked Donna.

It’s about the network of towers in territories called cells. They were also called mobile phones, Rex answered.

Perfect loyalty amongst us is paramount. I have no problem with it, Art Windale responded.

There was a knock on the door.

We got company; please return next Monday, Sonia Windale told the visitors.

When the four visitors left, some team members suddenly became nervous.

Do you know those people? Rex asked Sonia.

Yes, their clients of ours, Sonia replied.

A sense of relief came upon the team. The staff wondered what the problem was.

The Professor explained, "Before we began our journey across time, we were a little afraid that there might be such a thing as ‘time cops’ who can follow, arrest, or even kill us to stop our mission. These hypothetical ‘time cops’ from a secret department of the U.S. government of our era, from outer space or another dimension, we don’t know. We could not take any chances.

"Leon kept reminding Rex about the importance of not making our journey without first building a detection-blocking device to hide us from possible ‘time cops.’ At first, he would not listen. Leon warned him that one might safely get by on minor trips without such a blocker. However, on critical missions, it could get hazardous. Leon warned him to get his act together to build the blocker, or else he wanted no part of the mission. He immediately started the task once he understood Leon’s diplomacy in approaching political enemies. Even in the initial stages of time travel, security measures came first. Leon kept reminding me not to attempt time travel without a fundamental, ‘faith in Jesus Christ.’ You never know what evil might be waiting for us.

"Finally, we finished the job. The device is a small, handheld object that hides our ‘time energy signature.’ It is a sink for soaking up the micro-temporal ripples that time machines emit during their takeoff and reappearance. Lower beings cannot connect the dots of a time journey. It provides us with complete stealth! It generates a scalar energy chaos field that hides the psychic imprints left on objects. It reminds me of a border patrol vehicle dragging a tree branch behind them to erase its tire tracks. Because of that device, any possible ‘time cop’ would not even know we exist!

Now, I must clarify that our surveillance blocker only stops the negative people. Should someone with good intentions try to find us, they can! We might even encounter fellow time travelers who can help us when needed. The time cops cannot use unprotected time travelers to find us.

What incredible ingenuity! I love it! Art responded.

The emotion expressed got quite vivid and very welcomed by all.

The Professor explained, Our team was nervous about the knock at the door because we sure hoped our surveillance blocker worked. We sure don’t want to find out the hard way.

We have sought the gods and concluded that the gods are us! said Art.

Leon replied, Please be careful. I like to clarify that statement by saying. I can be like my father and have kids. However, I can never become him. Likewise, we can become godlike but never become God. Therefore, we are gods, spelled with a little ‘g,’ but never with the big ‘G.’

Art elaborated, Yes, that’s right! Your idea helps avoid some confusion that might result from this approach. Life’s journey is not about arriving at some fixed address but an eternal progression. No matter what you attain, there is always more to achieve. To be God with the big ‘G’ would mean to have no more life. When you reach a certain spiritual and psychic development plateau, you will find the paradox where you are God yet are not. Do you become something if there’s no actual you in that?

Like saying, ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ in me," Leon responded

Rex explained, You cannot define truth in exact words. It is like moving up to the top of a pyramid where everything comes to a point. The naive person expects every question to result in an exact yes or no, or a true or false answer. A wiser person learns that it is not always the case! Some things are both true and untrue.

The listeners all responded, right on, brother!

Leon said, "I like to cover other issues. Now I address the plan of our mission. My first concern involves some essential principles of time travel physics. First, there is the concept of timelines. Time keeps us bound in much the same way that gravity holds us. The result of that viewpoint gives us a representation called a timeline. It’s an event sequence of past, present, and future. A machine enables us to break loose from the grip of time. It’s like taking the function of an anti-gravity device a step further. Traveling forward in time requires breaking free from the grip of the past. Going back in time requires pasting a future onto the past.

"We’re not just time travelers but also timeline engineers! I am about to create a foundation for what I am about to say. In the year 2,024, from where we came from, some people believed we should keep the timeline unchanged no matter how bad things could get! We do not follow that approach! We consider it fatalistic nonsense conveyed by the powers that be. Of course, we must also be careful. This timeline was not the best, from September 22, 1962, to March 18, 2024. It applies to you, Mr. Windale, the staff, and society. No, we did not get the futuristic type of community as in your science fiction stories. You have seen some of this from the DVDs and books we showed you. Now there will be no nuclear war.

This time of 1962 is a somewhat better world than in 2024. This past September 22 is the point of shared history. Before that date, every record or memory of history is identical to ours. Yes, we have begun to create a far better future. These changes are starting to solidify, even as we speak.

Why is 1962 the optimal year to modify the future? Wong asked.

All because your group is at its zenith point! Leon answered with a show of excitement.

The staff reacted with applause and said amongst themselves how honored they felt.

Leon, how did you conclude that we fit the criteria? asked Donna.

"It all began with Mr. Tavender’s involvement with you as a client during a short three weeks in June and July 1983 in Phoenix, Arizona. Art passed in June 1984 of cancer. Rex abruptly returned to New York in July of that year without further contact with you. Because of this, there was a loss of additional benefits from the program. No one carried on your work. Yes, working with Sonia had limited benefits until she died in 1993.

Art, you had the noble ambition of having someone continue your work. Rex fondly held onto such high hope. He carried the torch of brightness that you started. Art, here is your picture.

What did I die of? asked Sonia with tears.

You died of natural causes in your sleep around the Christmas holiday week of 1993 in Cottonwood, Arizona, Rex responded.

Not bad! said Sonia.

You mean my project with the carbogen and the associated research and development program will fail? Art remarked disappointedly.

Leon’s face lit up with optimism, "First, I must stress the significance of the two timelines. From the older version, I would say yes, you did fail in your quest. However, time is more than just linear; it is also parallel. Yes, Mr. Windale and staff, this meeting is the start of a timeline where your great quest will succeed! We would never create a new time string for light and petty reasons. We approach them with careful deliberation. We do not try to play God by doing so. We do not try to prevent every disaster.

Because we’re timeline engineers, we face an ethical concern. We already know about some adverse events in the United States and the world. The only thing we are going to do about them is nothing! Time travel brings this into play. Some of these events might not happen at all. They might naturally occur in a different form. Our team is the nexus point between the old and the new timeline. The forming of something ‘new’ implies a before and after. The changed item has all previous editions embedded within itself as a sequence of subsets. We introduce something new that reaches beyond temporal sequence.

Does the old timeline still exist? Art asked.

Rex explained, "Just because something is in the past or future does not make it non-existent. It exists in the context of the past or future. That which is non-existent ‘just’ isn’t. A piece of paper has two sides, yet there is one paper. An electric circuit must secure a connection with two terminals, yet it is one circuit. Events have a timeless underpinning, like the submerged part of an iceberg.

"Every distance in time and space has an underpinning of non-distance. No event happens in isolation. There is an infinity of hidden shortcuts interlacing all events through non-time. Think of it as the crossover point in the infinity symbol. It’s in a unified field where every quantity underpins a correlating absence. This emptiness is the zero factor which is ‘not nothing.’ The vacancy is an absolute fullness, which has a corresponding total void in the real sense. The principle of ‘the reserved vacancy’ is a better term."

This has been called cosmic awareness and the unmoved mover, Art said.

Rex said, "Zero is the window of interconnectedness and unity. The ancients did not regard Zero as a number. In Buddhism, there is the term ‘non-self.’ If you referenced a home to its origin, all its materials would relate to a time before its construction. In that sense, the source of a home is devoid of that item.

"That term could apply to people, places, and things. It describes something of the power of creation. Zero or void is like the ‘clear’ button on an adding machine that enables new data to replace the old. We transcend multiplicity through the reset value of zero. Oneness allows one to access areas hidden within the ‘zero.’ We disassemble a current event by linking it to its earlier causes. To regard a past event as happening in the present tense implies withholding its later versions from our perception. The correlation between construction and deconstruction gives us the flow of time.

"We can only consider past and future because of our limited perception of now. How can the past and the future have things placed there? It is when they are outside our limited bandwidth now. If we have a narrow bandwidth focus on the now, then it follows that we also have a limited bandwidth focus on the ‘past and future.’ All temporal limits have correlated spatial limitations. When you get in your car and drive from Portland to Seattle, it is evident that Portland cannot come with you. A picture of Portland can travel with you to Seattle. To get to Seattle, you must go to it because it cannot go to you.

"The point I like to make here is that you cannot travel without carrying a small portable environment. Time travel is no exception.