Time Watch

The flickering street lamps reflected off the road’s flat puddles, broken only by vibrations from the occasional elevated train that passed above him. He’d better get here soon, thought Harald as he put out another cigarette on the damp asphalt. The butts numbered twelve, though he realized he hadn’t been waiting for that long. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes at most. His hands reached into the inside pocket of his coat yet again, touching the bulging manila envelope just to make sure it was still there. He leaned against the side of his black Cadillac, and breathed out a sigh. Harald’s driver sat behind the wheel, motionless, keeping his eyes forward as he was instructed. Harald wondered for a brief moment if he should’ve moved on to the self-driving models long ago. A computer program can’t exactly be a witness.

He was about to light another cigarette as a car turned a corner up ahead and blinded him. Harald winced, his eyes adjusting poorly to the sudden brightness, and closed his zippo with a click. About damn time…

The car, red and obviously economy class, pulled up next to Harald. The car’s window rolled down a few inches, just enough to see the driver’s blue eyes, illuminated by the inner lights, turning to Harald expectantly.

Taking that as his cue, Harald stepped forward as he pulled the envelope from his coat pocket and slipped it through the crack. He whispered, though he didn’t need to. “Make it look accidental, hm?”

As a response, the red car’s driver put up his window and disappeared just as another train created a racket overhead. Harald frowned at the lack of respect and shook his head as he opened his own door to the backseat of his car. He settled onto the leather seat and took a moment before realizing he had to close the door as well. “Drive.”

~~~

The alarm clock on the messy nightstand ticked to 7:00 AM and blared out a ringing cacophony that barely stirred the person sleeping next to it. A small hand slowly reached out from under the covers, swiping and missing the clock multiple times before the fingers found their mark. The noise turned instantly to a radio DJ’s voice. “Good morning, New Los Angeles! It is 7 in the A.M. on this beautiful Monday. Sun’s a-shining with not a cloud in the sky. It’ll be a comfortable 80 degrees by mid-day with showers and possible thunder by evening. Let’s go to Trish in the chopper for our travel times. Trish?”

Diane gave a sleepy groan and threw off her blankets, “Hey, Donny! Traffic conditions are showing normal today with…,“ She flung her hand out again, hitting the alarm clock a little harder than she intended, and the radio went dead. Moving bed-ratted blonde hair out of her face, she squinted in the bright sunlight peaking through mismatched curtains and picked up her clock. “Shit…” A spring twanged out of one side where the hard-plastic cover had broken off. I’ll fix it later…

Sliding out of bed and making her way to the kitchen, she turns on the coffee pot on her counter and headed to the bathroom for her rationed shower. Fixing her blue uniform to the hook on the bathroom door, she brushed it out a bit and hoped the steam would get some of the wrinkles out. I knew I should’ve taken it out of the bag when I first got it, she thought and turned on the hot water.

An hour later, she parked her tiny blue car in the near-empty lot. She tugged on her employee badge, took one last look in the rearview mirror, and got out. The sight before her made her smile for the first time that day. The largest amusement park in North America, newly built with all the latest innovations Syncor could offer. Ever since the old Los Angeles flooded and millions migrated to east of the Rockies, there’d been a general clamor for escapism, and Syncor was happy to oblige. Though the park was empty for now, soon it would be filled with families, thrill-seekers, and bored teenagers. Diane headed to the employee entrance and scanned in. Her badge photo popped up on the screen along with her credentials.

“Diane Riley. Tour Guide. Steps Through History Adventure Ride.”

She beamed, even if the picture was less than perfect. She moved through the turnstile and made her way towards her section of the park. Entering the small building meant to serve as a lounge area, she saw a few of her new coworkers. Gladys smiled and nodded to Diane. Diane returned the smile and walked over. “Hi, Gladdie. Assignments up yet?”

The older woman hm’ed and looked down at the touchpad in front of her. “Yeah, looks like they are.” She scrolled through a few lines. “Ah! Here you are. Looks like you have the Invasions of England tour today.” Though Gladdie said it as if it was just another item on a grocery list, Diane couldn’t help but wince. Her first day, and she gets the most gruesome tour.

“Uh. Great. Anyone have tickets yet?” Gladdie looked back down.

“Got five so far.”

Diane nodded and went to put her purse into a locker off to the side, silently glad she only had coffee for breakfast that morning.

~~~

“Oh hey, Ken! You’re up here early this morning.” The old security guard braced himself on the desk in front of him to stand and greet the visitor coming through.

Ken smiled, holding out his badge. “Hey Fred. Got some wires that need to be mended before the park opens. Apparently, some were short-circuiting after close last night.” Fred nodded, as though understanding even if he didn’t. He scanned Ken’s badge and was about to look at the monitor for the credentials, when Ken piped up. “Oh, you get my present the other day? Left it for you in the employee lounge. Big box with a red bow?” Ken did his best to hide the panic in his voice. His eyes shifted swiftly from the monitor and back to Fred.

Fred stopped his turn to look at Ken and frowned. He pondered for a second, and then shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I didn’t. Didn’t see any package at all. When did you leave it?”

“Oh, Friday night. I wanted you to have it before your birthday. You sure you didn’t see it? Dang, that’s a real shame. I’ll look in Lost and Found or something after I’m done here.” Ken smiled as he watched the credentials on the screen fade to black.

Fred smiled. “That’s nice of you, son. Real nice. Go on. Best get to those wires before they burn the whole place down.”

Ken nodded in reply and went through the door as Fred buzzed him into the server room. It was very cold, and Ken rubbed his arms as he looked around. Turning left, he walked down a few rows of blinking wired machines and stopped in front of one in particular labeled “Steps Through History Adventure Ride.”

He took out a crumbled piece of paper, narrowing his eyes in the dim light to read it. “Invasions of History. 10:00am Tour.”

Stuffing the paper back into his pocket, he opened up the door to reveal the inner workings of the server. He fidgeted with a few wires, trying to find the right one, and then smiled. Taking a tiny flat-head from his work belt, he slowly and carefully pried the copper wires free from what they were coiled around. The wire sizzled and sparked, sending a jolt up his arm. He jerked back, wishing he could’ve spared the time to cut off the power. Closing the door and locking it, he replaced the screwdriver and frowned, thinking he should have asked for more money.

He made his way back out the door, giving a wave to Fred as he passed.

“That was fast, kid!”

“What can I say, I’m good at what I do.”

~~~

Diane walked up to the five seated individuals who would be her guests for the next hour. She smiled her most charming smile, hoping to God it hid her nervousness. “Welcome, everyone, to the Steps of History Tour! I will be your guide, Diane, and today we will be exploring various points in England’s storied history. Now, before we begin, does anyone have any questions?”

A young woman slowly raised her free hand, the other wrapped around the man seated next to her. “Hi, yes. Uhm, this is safe, right? I mean…” She fumbled for words, biting her lip as though she could feel five sets of eyes on her. She looked to the man next to her, presumably her husband, who grins at her. “My husband’s been dying to try this. Oh! My God, that just came out! Husband!” She giggled, nervousness instantly forgotten and leaned over to kiss him. “We just got married so this is kinda part of our honeymoon.”

The older couple, all khakis and smiles, looked at the newlyweds. “Oh, how wonderful. George and I are about to celebrate 40 years together! I hope you have as much luck as we do!” George patted his wife’s hand and chuckled. “Word of advice, young man. Learn to say “yes, dear” and you’ll be fine…”

“Oh, you!” The older wife playfully tapped her husband’s hand with her own. Diane watched all of this play out with a stuck smile. These people won’t be laughing in a few minutes… She looked to the fifth member of their party, a young man with a hoodie pulled up over his head and his eyes planted firmly on the iPhone M in his hand. Likely won’t hear much from him.

“Yes, it is completely safe. This technology was once used by scholars and historians to study history as it was happening. Now it’s largely used as a teaching tool and for fine people such as you who want to get their hands dirty, so to speak.”

The two couples looked back up to their tour guide, as if forgetting she existed for a moment. The older wife said, “Well, I’m Mary. George and I have done these kinds of tours a dozen times, everything from “Napoleon’s Strategies” to “Westminster Abbey’s Construction” and we’re still here.”

That seemed to stifle the young lady’s fears for the moment and she finally smiled. “I’m Jessica. This is my husband,” another giggle, “Rory. Let’s get going, then?” She stood up excitedly, putting her large purse over one shoulder.

Diane looked again to the odd-man out. “Since we’re such a small group, may I ask your name?”

Without looking up from his phone, the young man replied, “Josh.”

Diane paused, allowing him to speak more if he wished it. When no more sound came from Josh, she put on her best tour guide smile, and waved her hand toward the double doors leading out. “Right this way, and we’ll begin the tour!”

~~~

Fred stood again as another technician entered, cursing his knees and wishing he could afford the replacement surgery. He exhaled a sigh, but managed a smile. “Morning, Alex. How’s the wife?”

Alex unclipped his badge from his breast pocket and handed it over. “She’s good. She’s due in about 3 weeks, so it’s all midnight ice cream runs and cleaning.”

Fred chuckled and scanned the badge. “I remember when my Dolores was pregnant with our first. She insisted on…wait…” Fred looked at the screen and frowned, then scanned the badge again.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows and leaned in to look at the monitor behind the security desk. His eyes bugged. He sputtered, “What the hell,” and looked down at the badge, then lifted his gaze to meet Fred’s narrowed eyes.

“Why do you have Ken’s badge, son?”

Alex shook his head in denial and opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a raspy, panicked croak. Fred slowly lifted the wrist watch to his mouth. “We have a Code Black here, I repeat. Code Black in Server Room Two.”

~~~

Diane looked at her five guests as she explained the setting. “In late 1347, a ship came from the Asian continent and berthed in Sicily. This ship brought many things with it, such as silks and spices. But a more unsavory cargo was also hidden in its hold. Rats. These rats were infected with what would be known as the Black Death. It was unknown at the time the numbers of the dead, but we now know that at least 25 million people died in Europe from 1347 to 1352. This was between 40% and 60% of the population. Are you alright, Jessica?”

The young woman, not five minutes ago beaming with excitement, was now turning a peculiar shade of green. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and nodded as her new husband put an arm around her shoulders. His smile had faded somewhat, but he was at least looking around and listening.

That’s one thing they don’t warn you about, though Diane. The sights and sounds, sure. But also the smells.

They had landed in London proper in 1348. Decaying bodies lay where they fell, flies and carrion animals the only benefactors. That combined with the animal dung and nightsoil of the city’s inhabitants made for a heady cocktail. The stereotypical throwing of the chamber pot contents was demonstrated at one point, flung from a second story window and almost hitting Josh while he was still looking at his phone. He was the only one that seemed completely immune. Even the older couple, veterans in history tourism, were staring about with their mouths agape.

A handful of people were out and about on the streets, some with carts picking up the dead, and a few just trying to go about their lives in the midst of an awful situation. One coughed near Diane and she reactively flinched, then silently cursed her reaction.

Jessica’s eyes widened. “Oh God, are you… infected now?” She looked like she was about to vomit.

Diane replied with a bright smile, “Hardly! Though we can see and hear and, well, smell everything that’s going around us, they cannot interact with us in any way. It’s part of the bubble technology that was developed over painstaking generations of research. So, don’t worry! We’re all perfectly safe.” She wondered how many times she had said that in this leg of the trip alone. “And we’re walking. And we’re walking.” She waved them forward.

Her five companions obliged, though their steps were halting. “Though you might not think of it in this way, this is an example of an invasion of sorts. However, it was an enemy that England could not overcome with swords and bows and soldiers. But without the Black Death, our world would look very different. The population was devastated, certainly, but those who survived were given higher wages for their work. Food was more plentiful because there were fewer people to feed. Indeed, the concept of serfdom in Medieval England ended due to the bubonic plague. And since religious figures, such as priests and bishops, also became infected, their high status amongst the people took a hit and led to the rise of a man named John Wycliffe, who was an English writer that produced essays on anti-clericalism. He inspired such men as John Calvin and Martin Luther. So, really, an entire religion might not have existed without this…” She grimaced. “…this important event.” Diane stepped over a dead body as she continued to walk. “Any questions?”

George, Rory, Jessica, and Mary all shook their heads. Josh, miraculously, looked up from his phone. “Yeah, I got a question. Why did it kill so many?”

Diane beamed. “Excellent question, Josh! There was a widespread famine just prior to 1348 that led to a weakened population. Also, we believe the disease had mutated multiple times before it came to England’s shores in the 14th century into a pneumatic strain, making it especially virulent and easy to spread. It was so wide spread, in fact, that many people with European ancestry have an immunity to the plague. Any more questions?”

The two couples shook their heads again. Josh looked back to his phone, which Diane took as a no. “Very well, then. Shall we move to the next section? This one is particularly interesting. The attack of Lindisfarne Abbey, a famous Viking raid in England!” Diane lifted her left arm, and punched a few buttons into the control wristband she wore. There was a loud BLURP, and all six disappeared.

~~~

“What do you mean you don’t know, Kowalski?” Edwards, the park’s head of security, put his red face next to Alex’s and bellowed. “Did you steal Fields’ badge? Do you know how much trouble you’re in? Who are you working for, eh? Eight Flags? The Disney Empire? Just what kind of information were you trying to take?”

Alex shook his head, tears filling his eyes. “N-no, sir! I don’t know how it happened! I swear!”

Edwards frowned and stood straight, still glaring at Alex. “Well, we’ll see about that.” He turned to Fred, barely hiding his concept of the older man. “You find Fields?”

Fred fidgeted with his tie and cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. He’s in the other room.”

“Good.” Edwards strode out of the room and rolled his eyes as he heard Alex start to weep girly tears. Show some spine, for God’s sake. Edwards went over to the main office desk and gave a genuine smile to the chain-smoking secretary behind it. He pretended to peer at a manilla folder on top, but turned his eyes to the window of the second room. Kenneth Fields. He studied the young man sitting in the chair, and frowned, then straightened. He turned to the secretary again. “Henrietta, have Alex released. For all his whimpering, he’s not our guy.” He looked again to Ken through the room’s window. Ken’s eyes met his, and the kid’s smug look suddenly faded.

~~~

Diane lifted her arms towards the enormous stone-built abbey before them. “Lindisfarne Abbey, the first truly brutal Viking attack on England in 793 A.D., though of course at that time, England was just a collection of smaller kingdoms. Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria, with some even smaller kingdoms such as Sussex and Kent being absorbed into the four larger. They wouldn’t be one cohesive country until almost a hundred years later when Alfred was crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons. And we’re walking.” She motioned them forward across the green expanse of clover and grass toward the abbey.

Jessica, looking much better after having a few moments of clean air, looked at George and Mary. “So, what do you two do? Ya know, for jobs?”

Both George and Mary laughed, but George spoke. “Oh, we’re well retired, Mary and me. Been enjoying the quiet life for a good while now. We owned a large marketing company until our son took it over.”

Jessica put her arm around Rory and grinned up at him. “We’re both still in school. Engineering. It’ll be a while before we graduate, but we couldn’t wait. What about you, Josh?”

Josh mumbled, flipping through something on his phone. “I design phone apps.”

Jessica’s eyebrows raised. “Oh yeah? Any we’ve heard of?”

“Mundo Ultra.”

Jessica and Rory both stopped, as did Diane. Jessica spoke first. “You made Mundo? That game is HUGE. My cousin will not shut up about it. She’s addicted to it.”

Josh nodded automatically, as though he’d heard it a thousand times. “I wrote the algorithm that makes it so addictive.” He shrugged and continued looking at his phone.

Diane cleared her throat to get everyone back on track. “Now, as we’re approaching, I’d like to turn your attention to the right, along the coast line. There are five ships, Viking galleys. You see the scary figure heads on the front? Those were meant to scare away spirits that were protecting the places they wanted to raid. When they go back home, the figure heads would be taken off so as to not frighten any friendly ancestral spirits.” A blood-curdling scream suddenly pierced the air, coming from the Abbey. “And it looks like we’re just in time!”

~~~

Edwards dragged a bruised and bloodied Ken by the scruff of his shirt toward the server room. Ken turned and spat at him. “You are going to get into so much trouble for this! I’ll sue! You hear me?!”

Edwards stopped and turned Ken towards him, glaring down at him until Ken’s bravado started to crack. “Listen to me, you little shit. You are going to tell us what you did in there. You’re going to tell us right now. You can’t sue if your mouth is wired shut, got me?” When nothing more came out of Ken, Edwards continued toward the server door. He punched the red button that buzzed them in, following closely by a senior technician, the technician’s supervisor, and a sour-looking Fred.

“Now, Ken, which way?” He shook the kid’s collar for effect.

Ken sniffed and pointed; his voice quiet. “Row 5, Section C.”

The technicians moved in toward the server he said, Edwards and Ken following behind, and opened it up. They peered around for a few minutes, until one of them said. “Here!” They whispered amongst themselves until Edwards lost his patience.

“Well?!”

The technicians looked at each other, and the senior of the two turned. “Yeah, he messed this up, alright. Looks like the wires he destroyed with were for the historical tourism rides. We can fix it, but we gotta shut it down.”

“So, do it then!” Edwards shook his head, not understanding.

The supervisor rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure, but there’s a group going right now. We shut this down, even for a few minutes, and they’re not only stuck, but the bubble will be down.”

Edwards looked at Ken, then back to the technicians. “And what happens if you don’t fix it?”

The technicians looked at each other, “Well. We’re not actually sure. Maybe their next jump is permanent. I’ve never seen this happen before.”

Edwards spoke as if talking to children. “Then the choice is pretty clear, isn’t it? The devil you know.”

The supervisor took a long, deep breath, moving his hand up to the power switch. “Powering down in three… two… one…” He lifted the clear plastic safety cap on the button, and pushed.

~~~

The group of six moved through the courtyard, barely dodging a screaming monk being chased by a laughing Viking. Diane chirped, “The raid on Lindisfarne Abbey was the first real but certainly not the last Viking raid on this island. There were far smaller raids, of course, but the brutality of the raid on Lindisfarne Abbey shocked the entirety of the Christian world and is considered the start of the Viking Age. They would continue for centuries, specifically targeting places of worship, like abbeys, because of the double whammy of both being ill-defended AND having large troves of gold.”

Diane’s talk was interrupted by a monk, shrieking and running towards the cathedral door, screamed and gurgled as a hand axe flew from out of nowhere to imbed itself into the poor man’s skull. He fell first to his knees, then to the ground. Jessica jumped, putting her hand to her mouth. Rory turned his head and nearly vomited on Mary and George, who both looked as pale as their hair. Josh glanced up from his phone and to the right.

“Hey, tour guide lady. You said they couldn’t interact with us, right?”

Diane steeled herself and turned toward Josh, smiling all the way. “Yes, that is correct.”

“Then why is this dude looking right at me?”

Diane frowned, taken aback by the statement, and followed his line of sight toward the “dude” in question.

A large man, his hair slicked back with a white substance, lifted a small axe from his belt and slowly approached the group of six. Diane tilted her head, and looked to their other side, then smiled. “Ah, he’s looking through you to the monks over there. See?”

Just as Diane pointed to the small group of monks heading through a corridor, the Viking hauled back and threw the axe. All six watched it fly end over end to sink into Rory’s shoulder. Six more screams joined the chorus at Lindisfarne Abbey.

~~~

The supervisor pulled out a new coil of wires, clipping off a section roughly six inches long. He stripped roughly an inch at each end, and then handed it over to his subordinate who began to thread it through and around the metal bolt. A beat, then, “Ok, one side’s done.”

Edwards sneered at Ken. “I thought this was just a simple case of corporate espionage, kid. You better hope all of them get home, or you’re in bigger trouble than just a few bruises and some walking papers.”

Ken snorted and spit a bloody glob at a nearby server. “Don’t worry about me, hoss. I already got paid.”

“Oh yeah?” Edwards removed his hand from Ken’s collar. He paused, then his mouth twisted into a sneer. “And what exactly were you paid for, you little bastard?”

Ken’s busted lips cracked when he smiled. “Oh, you know. Something something trust fund. I expect he’ll get me out the second those bar doors try to lock me in.”

Edwards’ eyes narrowed. Money. Always follow the money. “Trust fund, eh? Oh, I get it. You’re a little hit man. And which one was your target?”

~~~

George knelt down next to Rory as Jessica babbled incoherently through her tears. “You’ll be ok, young man. Best not to remove it quite yet. We’ll get you to a hospital.” George looked up at Diane, who was franticly pushing buttons on her wrist band.

“I-I don’t understand! Why isn’t this working?!” Diane sobbed. “I just finished training and this is my first day and WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING?!”

Mary put her arms around Diane to calm her, and turned her head. Three more Vikings had joined the party, wicked looking axes in all hands. Mary gave Diane a squeeze, but said nothing.

Then, Josh stepped forward, half panicked and pacing.

“Uh…” Then he looked at the phone in his hands and screamed into it. “Play Led Zepplin! Full volume!” He held out his phone to the Vikings, who stopped their advance to look at the strange weapon this skinny boy held out.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WE COME FROM THE LAND OF THE ICE AND SNOW, FROM THE MIDNIGHT SUN WHERE THE HOT SPRINGS FLOW…!”

The Vikings blinked and flinched, stepping back a few paces. One of them spoke, “Hva er det? Skriker det!” The four looked at each other in confusion.

~~~

“Got it! Turn it on!” The supervisor nearly tripped over his tools, reaching for the button. He hit it hard, and the server hummed to life.

~~~

“Det bare skriker.” One Viking stepped forward, then stopped abruptly, looking around. “Hvor gikk de?? FINN DEM!” Three run off through a side corridor quickly, as the fourth continued to look around.

Diane hiccupped, tears blurring her vision. “I-I think it’s ok. The bubble must be back up. I’m going to try again.” She punched buttons on her wristband. There was a loud BLURP, and all six disappeared.

A few moments later, they were back in the history tour room. Diane ran over to a control panel on the far wall as Rory screamed in agony. “MEDIC! MEDIC IN TOUR ROOM THREE NOW!”

She leaned against the wall in exhaustion and closed her eyes. Just another manic Monday… A laugh escaped her lips just as EMTs begin to rush into the room.

~~~

Harald frowned at the enormous television set in his office, leaning forward.

“Breaking news. An attempted murder happened today at the Syncor Amusement Park outside of New Los Angeles. This morning, 24-year old Kenneth Fields, a systems technician, was caught by park security attempting to sabotage the world-renowned Steps Through History Tour. The suspect was taken into custody and his motive for doing this are as yet unknown. Thankfully, there have no reports of deaths, however one of the tour guests, a man by the name of Rory Talburn, is at St. Cuthbert General Hospital in serious but stable condition. Police officials are confident they will be able to…”

Harald turned the television off and leaned back in his chair. After a moment’s pause, he picked up the phone. “Kim, get my parents on the phone, please.”

“Right away, Mr. Laska.”

A pause, and then a ringtone. “Hello? This is George.”

“Hey Dad, it’s me. I heard what happened. How awful! Are you and Mom ok?”