Shattered Time

By Christopher Coates

Daniel and Lea have developed the ability to travel in time. Unsure what do to with their new ability, they decide to alter the past to make the world a better place... and make a profit along the way.

Doing so, they inadvertently change the course of human history. Now, people who never should have existed are extremely powerful, and the effects of four global wars have contaminated the planet.

What Daniel and Lea don't know is that four time travelers from the future have been genetically modified and sent back in time, in order to prevent the reckless changes they've done to the timeline.

But in their new, altered reality, one powerful nation exists, and its leaders are prepared to protect their interests - no matter the cost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Next Chapter
• Release date: Mar 6, 2024

Book preview

Prologue

Exedor was a small, seemingly unimportant planet in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy. The culture had highly advanced technology and craved one thing above all else: knowledge.

The mission of the Exedorian people was to learn everything.

Hundreds of years before, this obsession for information led them to develop the capability to travel in time. The ability to study their primitive ancestors proved to be an incredible new branch of knowledge.

But they quickly learned that changing the past also changes the future, and this opened a risk to the information they treasured so deeply. If someone made a change in the past, valuable information could be lost if the events changed, preventing the original data from ever existing.

Developing the method to protect gathered data became a generation long quest and was finally achieved.

They demonstrated their ability by identifying a relatively trivial incident that happened and then recording the data in their systems. They then sent someone back in time to change the event.

When they returned, all any of them remembered were the changes because, in their reality, the original outcome never happened. But an alarm went off when they checked the data they’d saved. The screen showed two sets of data with different values. They’d proven the ability to preserve information about an event, even if time travel prevented it from happening.

They were now free to use their time travel ability without concern of losing the data they cherished.

As their technology improved, they also developed the capability to travel the galaxy. Initially, this development was of minimal interest. They had no desire to meet alien societies. Their planet, Exedor, was rich in natural resources, which their population wasn’t depleting, so they didn’t need anything from other planets. Space exploration only offered them one thing: new knowledge.

So, they explored and learned, developing extensive knowledge about the celestial bodies they shared the galaxy with.

Very few of the places they’d visited had intelligent life, and the Exedorians were always careful to avoid interacting with any they observed.

One of the places they discovered and studied was classified as VK5634. It was the third planet in a nine-planet solar system. The native inhabitants called their home Earth.

One hundred years in the future

The Exedorian people anxiously awaited the return of Research Ship 3756 and the information it would bring. The ship was returning from a year-long mission to planet Earth. This distant planet fascinated the Exedorians because, while still primitive, the inhabitants were far more advanced than any others they’d so far discovered.

First located almost two thousand years earlier, this alien world was a planet similar to theirs in many ways. It possessed abundant resources, mountains, oceans, and enormous bodies of fresh water. The planet's orbit nearly matched their own, causing a similar lunar cycle.

The dominant species looked much like themselves but were far more expressive in their styles and behavior. They stood almost twice the height of the Exedorians. They were bipeds with opposable thumbs and superior intellect compared to the other species on the planet.

One of the more curious features of the dominant species was the shapes of their heads; while still round, they were far less spherical.

These physical differences made it certain that the Exedorians would never be able to interact directly with the native population.

The Exedorians found several exciting differences on Earth. The variety of animal life was far more diverse than what lived on Exedor, and the extreme seasonal climatic changes were very interesting. On their home planet, the temperatures only swung a few degrees in a lunar cycle.

They made eight trips to Earth over the centuries. As information about the planet and its inhabitants kept increasing, the Exedorians always looked forward to the next survey of Earth and learning how its inhabitants were developing.

During the previous survey, the two most powerful nations had each managed to put artificial satellites into the orbit of their world, and the Exedorians suspected that deep space travel would soon be possible for them.

For this reason, one year ago, they sent another survey ship, even though it had only been 160 years since the last visit.

Data Manager Nibbit sat in the office in his home, doing routine work. Today, as usual, he’d been working many more hours than required.

The office area was only big enough for his desk and chair. All four walls and the ceiling were the same basic off-white, one of the only two colors available for home decor. Nothing adorned the walls, and only the essentials were on the desk.

Hearing a sharp tone and feeling a vibration, he glanced at the surgically implanted screen in his wrist, recognized the symbol, and tapped it. His supervisor’s face appeared on the larger screen on his desk.

Hello, Supervisor, Nibbit said.

Data Manager, Research Ship 3756 will be arriving in twenty-two minutes. You will meet them at Data Portal Six and retrieve their information module.

With only the slightest change in pitch to show his excitement at the assignment, Nibbit said, I will leave now.

Nibbit tapped the wrist device again, terminating the call. He returned to his screen and requested a travel pod to take him to the building containing Data Portal Six. Seconds later, he received a six-digit confirmation code on the device in his wrist.

Leaving the office, he went to the central part of his home, which matched the sparse design of the office.

He removed his clear cup from a small cabinet and held it to a faucet on the wall. The cup filled with a thick yellow liquid. He drank it down in two hurried gulps and then washed the cup, dried it, and returned it to the cabinet.

Nibbit then went to the door and headed to the roof of the sixteen-story building. He arrived as the pod with numbers matching the ones on his wrist device landed.

The pod was a silent, egg-shaped craft capable of carrying six people, but no one else rode in it today. Nibbit boarded and took a seat for the seven-minute flight.

He arrived, having made no additional stops, disembarked onto the roof of the building, and headed down to the room containing the data portal. Seeing he was alone, he sat in the hard, rigid chair, identical to the one he used at home and waited.

While he waited, he thought about all the new information that moments from now would be available to their society. His people would spend months reviewing the data, feasting on the new knowledge.

After a few minutes, a middle-aged woman approached. She was dressed almost identically to him, with grey pants and a white shirt. Without introduction, she handed Nibbit the data module, which was about the size of a tennis ball.

Welcome back, he said in a friendly voice.

Thank you. I had a good experience. I’d never traveled in space before.

Nodding, Nibbit said, I understand. I’m still waiting for my number to be called. Maybe someday I’ll have the chance.

Taking the sphere, he glanced inside at the dark pink liquid filling its transparent shell. Dark pink. That’s a lot of information.

We were on station several months. The inhabitants have evolved into a primitive computerized society, which made data ingestion much easier.

With the faintest sign of a smile, Nibbit said, That’s great news. Lots more for us to learn. Thank you for delivering this.

Those were my orders. Now I’ll head home. I’ve been gone for over a year.

With nothing else said, she left, and Nibbit placed the sphere on the cupped receptacle. The liquid started leaving the sphere, drawn into the data ingestor.

As soon as the last of the liquid disappeared from the sphere, an alarm sounded, and line after line of red code appeared on the screen adjacent to his control panel.

Momentarily confused, Nibbit froze before typing a command into the system.

On the screen, the words, ‘Data quarantined. Temporal clash detected’ appeared.

Feeling a chill in his spine, Nibbit dug further and observed millions of events from the survey mission directly conflicting with earlier studies. Something changed the original timeline on Earth.

Somehow, vast amounts of the planet’s history had been wiped out and rewritten.

Nibbit stood frozen, not sure what to do.

Part I

Chapter 1

14 th Century England

The large black horse, its mane shining in the sun, pulled the royal carriage along a well-worn path through the thick English forest on a summer afternoon. With long, powerful strides, the animal moved along at a steady pace.

The rhythmic clop of the horse's hooves against the packed dirt and the constant creaking of the carriage’s wheels blocked out all other sounds to the vehicle's two passengers.

Charles, Aide to the king, was a tall and distinguished man with a no-nonsense demeanor and a streak of grey in his dark hair. He’d faithfully served the royal family for twenty-five years, and today, he sat in the back of the carriage with his attendant, feeling the excitement of this secret mission.

He felt pride that the king trusted him to conduct this follow-up meeting on his own.

The instructions from King Edward III were clear, and if things transpired as hoped, the kingdom would be stronger and better able to resist the coming challenges.

After several minutes, they spotted four soldiers standing by a clearing. The king had sent these men ahead to ensure no one else was in the area. The soldiers carried swords and spears and watched the forest, ensuring no one approached.

The carriage stopped, and the officer in charge of the detachment approached the king's aide and said, My Lord, there's no one around.

Nodding, Charles replied, Good. Spread out and ensure you can stop anyone approaching before they can get close. This secret is too critical for people to know about. Take my driver to help you. I don't want anyone other than my attendant with me for the meeting.

Nodding, the officer replied, Yes, my lord. He then left to carry out his orders.

Before leaving with the soldier, the driver tied the horse to a nearby oak tree.

What do we do now, My Lord? the attendant asked.

We wait. It won't be long.

Two minutes later, two identical objects suddenly appeared in the clearing between a pair of silver birch trees. One moment, they weren't there, then they were. There was no sound or flash of light to announce their arrival. They resembled small pillars, which stood about eight feet tall. Each consisted of a solid body about two feet square, which came to a point at the top.

The devices stood on four legs, one at each corner of their wide bases. The objects had no lights or markings, were entirely black, and sat precisely twelve feet apart.

As soon as they arrived, the legs moved automatically to level their bodies on the uneven ground. Then, the space between them lit up.

For a brief moment, inside the light, Charles saw a spacious room with only a man and a wooden crate inside. Then the light vanished, but the man and the crate remained in the clearing.

In the background, Charles was aware of a commotion. He heard the whinny from the horse as it jumped back, hooves dancing nervously on the ground as it was startled by the strange happenings.

The man from the light was in his late thirties, Caucasian, and of medium height and build. He had blond hair and a friendly expression. He wore blue jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with a meaningless logo. Garments like these didn’t exist here in 14 th-century England and wouldn’t for over 700 years.

On the man's left wrist, he wore a silver-colored gauntlet with blinking lights and several recessed buttons. It covered his wrist, and a narrow strip extended over the hand and encased two of his fingers.

From his neck hung a camera with a long, sturdy black strap that wrapped around his body, holding it in place. It was similar to the ones worn by police officers in the future.

Hello, Charles, the man said.

Daniel. Thank you for coming back. My king sends his greetings and is excited to see what you've brought for him.

I too, am excited to carry out our trade, the man from 21 st century Pennsylvania said.

Charles glanced at his attendant and nodded. The servant went back to the chariot and returned with a burlap sack. He set it on the top of the crate.

The man called Daniel emptied it into a heap on the crate, and seeing a large handful of gold coins, he briefly examined them. On the top of the pile was a pair of matching gold candlesticks, a ceremonial dagger, and lastly, a jeweled ornamental gold cup.

Daniel smiled; his eyes lit up, and he nodded, pleased with the treasure. Returning the items to the sack, he set it next to the crate.

Daniel opened the crate and said, I brought some things the king will find interesting. First, here are some treats he should consider a gift.

Digging in, he brought out two 2-liter plastic bottles. The bottles had labels, the wording of which didn't mean anything to the man born in the year 1312.

Charles took the bottles and examined them. One bottle was clear with brown liquid, and the other green. The bottles were transparent but not glass.

These are beverages from my time. I hope your king enjoys them.

Ahh, strong drink to make the king drunk, Charles laughed.

No. There’s no alcohol in them.

Confused, Charles returned to his examination of the bottles.

What are these made of? They’re bendable, not glass, he asked as he squeezed and slightly compressed the green bottle.

Daniel hadn't thought about it but now realized the plastic soda bottles may be more interesting than their contents.

Without answering, he dug out the next item and handed it over. It was a shiny brown bag about twice the size of a fist. Like the bottles, it had strange markings that meant nothing to Charles.

He handed it to the king’s aide, who shook it gently, hearing many small things inside.

Tell your king to rip open the bag and eat a few of what's inside. I think he'll be pleased.

Confused, Charles set the one-pound bag of M&Ms to the side and looked at the following two items: bottles of Ibuprofen.

Daniel spent several minutes explaining the value of the contents of the bottles, stopping short of instructing about how to work the child-proof cap. Smiling inwardly, he decided to let the king figure that out for himself.

Now, here are the things of most value. He handed over four twin packs of disposable lighters. He demonstrated to Charles how to work the small objects. The aide stared in awe at the magical fire-starting device.

The next item from the box was a set of white clothing, These are good for keeping someone warm in the cold winter you have approaching. Tell the king to wear them under his normal clothes.

Nodding, Charles took the thermal underwear, and Daniel added, Here, I brought you a set, too.

The servant's eyes widened as he accepted the gift, Thank you, sir. This is most kind of you.

Now, this item is something I know your king will appreciate. He removed four pairs of various sized black sneakers from the crate. I don’t know the size of the king’s feet. Have him pick the ones that fit best. They’ll make walking easier."

Charles took one sneaker and turned it over in his hands, curious about its construction, then held it to his nose. He’d never experienced the smell of new sneakers and found it interesting.

Daniel next removed several detailed topographical maps of Europe from the crate and a world map, which he spent some time explaining. Charles found the existence of North and South America fascinating, and Daniel thought the king would as well.

Along with the maps were photos of the Earth taken from space, clearly showing the planet as a sphere, not flat.

The following three items from the crate were books on various subjects, including medicine, disease prevention, and, most importantly, one titled ‘The Black Death.’ It was a three-ring binder outlying the cause of the pandemic and the steps needed to protect the kingdom against the deadly Bubonic Plague, which would soon wipe out two-thirds of Europe.

News of the plague in France had already reached London, and concern was building. As a bargaining chip, Daniel had informed the king on his previous visit that two of his immediate family would perish from the disease. He didn't specify that it would be the king's soon-to-be-born infant son, Thomas, and young daughter, Joan, who’d fall victim to the deadly bacterial infection that moved from rats to humans by way of fleas.

I don't see the book the king requested here, Charles noted.

I didn't bring it. We discussed it, and our superiors decided that providing detailed historical information about his kingdom and time in power wasn’t a good idea.

Charles didn't need to know that there were no superiors overseeing the meeting. This journey into the past was unsanctioned. The decision not to tell King Edward III about his time in power rested on Daniel alone.

A .45 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver with a single box of ammunition came out of the crate next.

Charles picked up the unloaded weapon with a smile on his face.

This is what my king wanted you to bring.

Daniel nodded, knowing this was the item that generated King Edward’s interest in trading with the man from the future.

I have been authorized to negotiate additional trading with you. The king wants more of these, many more. Also, more of these, Charles said as he tapped the barrel of the revolver against the box of ammunition.

I understand. I know weaponry is important. And I might be able to get you a few more, but weapons are hard for my people to obtain. They aren't readily available to everyone. But I want to offer you something far more valuable.

More valuable than weapons? Charles asked disbelievingly.

With a smile, Daniel replied, Much more. It's called electricity.

Chapter 2

What's electricity? Charles asked.

My people have learned to take the power of lightning and use it in small amounts to do work for us, Daniel explained.

Lightning? Like from a thunderstorm?

Exactly.

How’s this possible? Charles asked with awe in his voice.

We have devices called turbines and generators to make electricity for us, and we can use the electricity for many things. We can also store some of the power in what we call a battery. That allows us to take the power with us.

That's impossible!

Impossible? Does a man coming back to see you from hundreds of years in the future seem possible?

Remembering his current situation, Charles agreed, Coming back from the future is more impossible, but you're here. Tell me more about this electricity.

Reaching into the crate again, Daniel brought out a tablet computer. Seeing the recognition on Charles's face, he asked, "Do you remember