The Oracle

By Lyndon Taylor

Evan Stewart, a twenty-first-century student of history, travels back in time to the Los Angeles of the 1930s. His original objective was to interview individuals who were significant in the events surrounding World War II, and write scientific papers on his findings. His course was altered, however, when his hobby of horse racing trivia and a blossoming romance intervened to sidetrack his intent.

His knowledge of the winners of horse races permitted him to go to the track and bet and win every time. His knowledge of history permitted him to predict with 100 percent accuracy coming events of the era, which earned him the title of the Oracle.

Travel back in time with Evan Stewart and experience his extraordinary success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887933986

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The Oracle

Lyndon Taylor

Copyright © 2023 Lyndon Taylor

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88793-372-6 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88793-398-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Prologue

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

Epilogue

About the Author

This book is dedicated to Jodi Bole and Jeff Whitener, my daughter and son for their consistent and timeless support when I needed it the most, and to Mary Malone who graciously stepped in and plied her skills as my editor and whose presence and encouragement prompted me to complete this work.

Prologue

Dawn broke cold over the Mohave Desert on that morning, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but creosote bushes and a scattering of Joshua trees. Nothing was stirring—not a rabbit, a lizard, or a snake, and certainly no human beings. The monotonous landscape consisted of nothing more than sand and those repetitive images of the vegetation with no hint of human habitation.

Suddenly, from this nothingness, a man appeared. No, actually, a man materialized. For his form occupied no space whatsoever at one moment, and in the next moment, he was there, fully formed and carrying a large brown leather satchel. His clothes were ill-suited to this environment and this time, being made of a body-hugging brown silklike material that clung to his frame like a second skin.

Before walking, he stared in various directions at this desolate landscape as if gathering his thoughts. He gave the appearance of being uncertain as to what direction to travel. He searched in his pocket for a device, and pulling it out, he stared at its screen. After a few seconds, he closed its lid and put it back in his pocket. His decision made, he began his trek though the sand, past numerous creosote bushes and Joshua trees, and left the desert environment behind.

Finally, realizing his inappropriate attire, he paused briefly to reach in his bag and change his clothes to something more appropriate and acceptable in this time and place.

His journey through time was clearly a success, but his adventure was just beginning!

Chapter 1

Evan Stewart's Success

Evan Stewart was brilliant. He had graduated from Phillips Academy a year ahead of his entering classmates and had graduated from the prestigious Walker Center for Advanced Studies in three years, majoring in history with a minor in physics. At the graduation ceremony, he was honored as the student with the highest grade average in the class of 2027, and his intellect was further rewarded by his recruitment for a position at the State Office of Population History.

His parents were well-to-do suburbanites who lived in a rambling home on ten acres of land in one of the more affluent suburbs of Los Angeles. He had chosen to return to live at home at the conclusion of his Eastern education for the practical reason of saving money and for the quiet and security of his parents' home environment. Royce and Mary Stewart, his parents, were immersed in their own business and social life and provided Evan with more than enough space to pursue his own interests while living at home. While there were many evenings when they would dine as a family, there were other occasions when either his parents or Evan would be involved in other pursuits.

Evan's primary hobby was the collection of trivia from years past. Closely paralleling his professional interests, his interest in trivia ranged from odd facts from the world of sports to politics and included odd facts from history. He was particularly interested in horses and the results of horse races. Evan had files that detailed the winners of every major horse race and many minor races from the decades of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. His political interests included past election results and odd facts about politics and politicians. He had carefully placed these files on his Personal Data Assistant (PDA), an electronic device that was both easily portable and capable of storing vast amounts of information on its solid state storage module.

At his new position with the State Office of Population History, Evan was assigned to lead a project that would explore the causes of the Second World War and attempt to determine the personalities and skills of the political and military leaders who were active during the years leading up to that conflict. This task was a part of a contract the Office had with the CIA, who were developing a personality profile of individuals who were likely to ferment major disruptions of the political and military structure of small countries that were under the watchful eye of that agency.

As he began this investigation, he quickly realized there were conflicting versions of how historians had painted the picture of these individuals. This created a situation where making an accurate determination of what was truth and what was pure fiction about their lives, their motivations, and their personalities would be a daunting task. Nevertheless, he collected massive amounts of this sometimes conflicting data on each of these people on his PDA. His first move would be to collect the data and then later attempt to sort out fact from fiction.

In frustration, he had talked to other researchers at the Office, and they told him that without being present to personally experience these individuals, it would be most difficult to separate their true motivation and intelligence from what various authors thought was the case.

Undaunted, he continued to store data in his PDA with the intention of sorting it out when he felt he had assembled enough information to justify his further attention to the details.

Evan was compulsive! He had a habit of arriving early for his work assignment and staying until early evening. There was much to do in his assignment, and he appreciated the hours when other researchers were not in their offices. This quiet time was refreshing to him and allowed him uninterrupted time for thought.

It was on a Friday evening as Evan was pursuing this schedule that he realized his parents had previously requested his presence at a dinner at a local restaurant. They intended to have dinner with a couple who were longtime friends of the family. Buddy Hatcher and his wife, Rosalie, had known Evan's parents for over twenty years, and their son Jeremy was two years older than Evan. Jeremy was a rather reclusive person who had completed his undergraduate degree in physics, had recently completed his masters' degree, and was now working on his doctorate. In spite of the family ties to the Hatchers, Evan had never felt any close relationship to Jeremy.

Evan's parents, Royce and Barbara Stewart, were well-educated and well-connected people in the community. Royce Stewart was the owner of a large moving company that had clients all over the nation, including offices of the government. Barbara Stewart was active in a number of causes in the community, primarily children's welfare issues.

Looking at his watch, Evan realized that he needed to leave his office and return home as quickly as possible in order to dress and be prepared for the evening's activity. He did so and drove home to change clothes and meet his parents.

After rapidly changing clothes, Evan drove to the restaurant and hurriedly went inside. The Eagle's Nest was a trendy eatery on the far side of town and had been a favorite of the residents for over two decades. It was located on the top of a hill with a view of the surrounding city and featured a wood-paneled dining room and a long bar that was both comfortable and well stocked with a variety of domestic and international beverages. This was an upscale standout place to dine and to meet friends.

Upon entering the dining area, Evan was glad to see that his parents were already seated at a corner table for six and that they had already ordered and received drinks. He quickly proceeded to their table and greeted them.

Sorry I'm late, I got involved in my project and simply let time slip away from me. I see the Hatchers haven't arrived yet, so I guess I'm not too late after all.

Not a problem, son. Evan's dad was quick to ease the tension in Evan's voice. This is a social evening, not a command performance!

A few minutes later, the Hatchers arrived and greetings were exchanged. They sat down and the waiter quickly returned to the table to receive their drink orders.

Evan greeted Jeremy, Jeremy, I haven't seen you in ages, what have you been doing? I heard you completed your masters and are now working on a PhD. An area of physics is what I've heard, tell me about it.

Jeremy's proud parents sat back and listened as their son related, Yes, I've become very interested in some current research into a highly intriguing field of physics dealing with time travel. One of my major professors has worked in this field for over five years and has done some experiments that show great promise for a breakthrough in this technology. I've been assisting him in his research and have gone off on my own and built a device that appears to have promise. I'm almost at the point of testing it, just some preliminary adjustments to complete. I'm hoping that my modifications to his basic design will prove worthy. What have you been doing, Evan?

Like you, I'm involved in research as well, in my case I'm working for the State Office of Population History on a project that is investigating some of the key figures who were involved in the start of the Second World War. My research involves both the military and political leaders of the 1930s and 1940s and their psychological and intellectual attributes. The point of this research is to use my data to develop a psychological profile of individuals likely to cause international conflicts and to relate these findings to some of the leaders of today. It's all part of the war prevention program that the government is sponsoring.

The parents listened carefully to what the two young men were discussing, then Evan's dad responded, Well, it sounds like both of you are doing some interesting and important research. Buddy, what's new with your distribution center project?

Buddy went on to detail his latest project, the establishment of a six-hundred-thousand-square-foot warehouse project that would be located in a small town in the suburbs of a California industrial community. His description was interrupted by the waiter who brought several trays of food to the table.

This latter event turned the topic of table conversation to lighter topics and terminated a more serious discourse.

Evan, however, was not so easily swayed from the prior topic that Jeremy had been discussing. Time travel was intensely interesting to him, and he thought back to an earlier conversation he had at the Office with one of the key investigators and his team leader. Evan had vented his frustration regarding how to identify the true personalities of some of the individuals he was investigating and how he as having difficulty separating fact from fiction about them. This conversation had been terminated by the leader with his simple statement: You can't ever be 100 percent certain unless you can devise a means of traveling back there and meet with them, and that is highly unlikely—no, it's impossible!

That last statement echoed in Evan's mind, and coupled with the description that Jeremy had related, was cause for Evan to pursue this matter further with Jeremy. Evan resolved to obtain Jeremy's contact information before the evening was over and to follow up with a further, more intense conversation with him.

The remainder of the evening was spent in light conversation about friends, family, and past experiences. Toward the end of the evening, the opportunity presented itself for Evan to ask Jeremy for his contact information.

Jeremy, I like to know how I can get in touch with you, I would like to know more about what you are doing and I'd like to explain to you my project in greater detail.

Jeremy complied with Evan's request, and they exchanged contact information.

The evening concluded and the participants went their separate ways.

After arriving at home, Evan and his parents retired to the family room, and Royce Stewart inquired, Evan, you seemed interested in Jeremy's research. I never realized that you had an interest in both physics and time travel.

Dad, I guess it's just something my supervisor said to me the other day about my research problem. He said I could never really know these people from history without being there at that time. It's difficult to fully understand them through the eyes of others.

"I suppose you are correct. History does seem to sometimes distort what these figures are really like. You study of wartime leaders makes we reflect on what a famous person from history once said, ‘History of wars and wartime leaders is always written by the