Outta Time - Part VII - Disaster

Darkness…

The light slowly faded back into existence as the "Hop" ended its cycle. Clearer… Jim could see structures through the blurriness of the Arrival Sync, the self-correction the device utilizes to stop moving through the Time Plane and to "Pop" in accordance to the programming. The Device creates a small, refrigerator sized bubble in Space and Time. Imagine time and space like and small area between two floors, but without any obstructions. This is called the Time Plane. The bubble can move on this plane using the venting from the LN2 (Liquid Nitrogen) and Newton’s Third Law of Motion; that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The bubble has zero resistance in this Plane and moves as if it is on a super-conductive surface.

The bubble is created by accelerating a photon to near the speed of light. The Device is actually a mini particle accelerator. The energy that is not used is sent to the power station and quickly restores the levels of the batteries. The scientists at the Lab first built a one quarter scale model of the Accelerator at CERN in Switzerland called the Large Hadron Collider. The goal here was not to collide, but to accelerate. They ran hundreds of experiments on the effects of photon acceleration and discovered, quite by accident, that once the photon approached the speed of light, a bubble in space-time was created but it was only about a six foot diameter. They then realized that they needed to work on miniaturizing the accelerator. Today we have the Device, as it has come to be known in the Lab.

The world returned, whole and revealing. Jim recognized this location instantly. Rome. BC. He assumed that someone in the lab programmed this trip for him, as these were all his favorite locations, so far. About a month before the initial Departure, the team sat around their conference table, eating breakfast and coming up with favorite places and times. Jim’s were: Rome – first century BC, 1920’s New York or Chicago, 1608 Jamestown VA, 1875 Dodge City, Fifth century Greece and Ancient Egypt around 1270.

'Wow!’ he thought. 'I'm in Rome…!' Still reeling from the fact that he was actually travelling through time, Jim looked around to get his bearings. Jim was very excited and very nervous. He cannot be “Part of History” in any way. Technically, he already was. The goal was to arrive, take some notes and leave. The goal was not to interfere in any way and most importantly, not to get caught in a time you didn’t belong with a Device that had not yet been invented.

He stood about 100 yards before the Coliseum, one of the marvels of the Roman Age that still stands today. He has been here several times before, usually with his wife. The tourists were everywhere when he was here before, blocking views and taking photos. Actually, it reminded him a lot of now. The Romans that were here now were doing many of the same things. Standing around, pointing and talking about life and news and gossip. It looked like Roman Senators and common plebeians shared the same seats and ate the same food. They acted as if they were all equals. Well, maybe for the tournaments and gladiatorial matches they were.

Jim looked at the PDA and it read: ROME, ITALY CIRCA 45 BC.

'OK, so if this was right, Julius Cesar was just appointed as Perpetual Dictator last year, so this is Rome's Peak!' Jim was very excited to be here. This is one of the two times he wouldn't mind moving to, the other is the 1920's New York or Chicago.

Vast was the only way to describe what he saw. The expanse of Rome, even in just the city itself, was just vast. Buildings and landscape blended perfectly. ‘We could take some clues from this back home’  he thought.

As he looked around, and focused on the immediate area, he noticed people were staring at him. There were several groups of people who were looking at him, pointing and whispering. He looked down and realized that he was wearing his Jamestown garb. Cloth shirt and pants that resulted in the appearance of wearing rags. Not to mention that White seemed to be the color of choice here, for the most part.

"Crap", he said under his breath.

He looked about and saw a building not too far away, opposite the massive Coliseum. He ran over to the building, hoping they specialized in “Ancient-modern” apparel. Not that he had any currency which was Denarius at this point in time.

As he approached, it became clear that this was not a shop, but a fairly massive Temple. This temple was on top of a hill and he realized what this was. Capitolium Vetus, Temple of the Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno Regina and Minerva. Outside the Temple were several Roman soldiers as well as upper echelon of Roman society. One could tell the status of a Roman by their dress and shoes. These wore the tunics of Patricians and were made of white linen or wool. Jim stopped in his tracks, looking around for…Something. Some idea…

"Damnit Jim think!!" Jim said to himself in a hushed tone. He spotted a dotting of sheets off to the left, down the hill from the temple. He hurried down the pathway that ran down the gully formed by the hill and the rise of the road he just left behind. Trying not to be seen by anyone, Jim ducked behind a building and caught his breath. The sheets were about two hundred feet opposite him and up a small hill that must be someone's back yard as it had tables and chairs and a clothesline. No one was out there at the moment so he hurried off to snag a sheet, in the name of Science.

He made it over the little stone wall separating properties and ran up to the clothesline. Carefully he pulled a sheet off and kneeled down behind another sheet that was still hanging. In college he had been to a few toga parties. He thinks he remembered how to tie and wrap one.

After putting on the toga he took a smaller sheet and wrapped it around the Device. He went back out to the main street and went into the Capitolium Vetus.

The Temple was enormous. Long columns extended up to the 5 story tall roof. Inside there were three smaller buildings, each one dedicated to the worship of Jupiter, Juno Regina or Minerva. People walked about, still eyeing him a little but not nearly as much as before. Large statues inside the main Temple gave respect to all three Roman Gods. The differences from what he is seeing and what he has seen on his many grips to Rome is that these statues look like they were just commissioned and the roof and structure were still standing. In his time this is the San Pietro in Vincoli, a basilica or church whose known for Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.

'I can't believe I am here' Jim thought to himself.  Terry, his late wife, would be so proud of him. He wished she was here with him now. To share this with her would be the highlight of many highlights they had together. They had worked on projects together at Princeton but never anything like this. He misses her.

As he was standing in the middle of the Temple, in front of all three Cellas, or small temples, the device started beeping. Jim's heart sank.

"Oh no…" Jim looked around and the majority of the population of this Temple was starting to look at him. 'The Device needs to vent', Jim thought, looking around for a place to hide or duck behind.  He saw that he could possibly go behind one of the Cellas, but who knows if there are people back there. He decided to walk swiftly over behind the Cella to Minerva.

Rounding the rear corner, between the Cellas to Minerva and Juno Regina, he saw several people back there. "Shit!"

The device started beeping erratically and in varied tones. 'This is not right… It should vent itself if the VENT Button was not pushed. The Device was perspiring and soaking the wrap he had made earlier. 'Oh hell!" He kneeled down and uncovered the Device. He looked at the PDA Readout.

It read: MALFUNCTION - ERROR IN COOLING SYSTEM (VENT ALL LN2 AND RECHARGE BEFORE USE) VENT ALL? YES/NO (AUTO-VENT IN: ERROR)

"Holy Crap!" Jim's heart raced and sweat started to bead on his forehead. Jim looked up and noticed that he was starting to collect a growing number of curious onlookers. He smiled and looked back down at the PDA.

Jim pressed the VENT ALL Button and the Device started spewing white, frosty smoke on the ground, turning it into a not-so-small icy patch on the ground. All of the LN2 escaping, making another "Hop" impossible.

"I really don’t want this to be where my journey ends…", Jim grabbed the Device, wrapped it back up, and tried to casually walk out. He wasn't sure where he was going, but Rome was one of his favorite places to visit and now he can observe history, trying to find a bright side to this. Jim wondered how this will affect everything. Like the Butterfly Effect, Jim’s every choice, theoretically, would change the future forever. Maybe not even in a noticeable way at all, but the Theory suggests that something WILL change.

Several Soldiers marched in formation to block the main exit of the Temple. Jim stopped and looked behind him, more Soldiers were securing the rear perimeter. They all had spears and long three quarter body shields. They wore hardened leather armor on the chest and head and a thigh-length, red kilt-like waist wear. Sandals with skinny leather straps that went up to the knee donned their feet.

Jim sighed…

One Soldier, a higher ranking one than the others, stepped forward. He spoke in Latin, of course. Luckily Jim did well in Latin in college.

"Sir. Set the metal armor on the ground" The guard demanded.

Jim looked around for an escape but it was hopeless.

Jim set the Device on the ground, only partially covered with the small sheet now. The Guard motioned for one of his subordinates to come over and get it.

"Yes Captain!" The young man said and went over to the Device and went back into formation.

"Captain", Jim said. "Please that is very dear to me. Be careful with it."

"You won't need it where you're going" Just then another guard came over and grabbed Jim by the arm. He led him out of the building and they walked, in rank and file, down the road towards the heart of Rome.

Jim thought about how spending the rest of his life, as short as it may be, in a Rome Prison was not exactly what he had in mind when he thought about moving to ancient Rome. He pictured more; living outside the city, on a farm, growing Olives. Starting over…

"Do exactly as they tell you and I will find you later". The voice was familiar, but more importantly it was in English!

Jim looked and saw Jason Miller. A fellow scientist he worked with when he was at NASA. Oh My God! What the hell was he doing here?

"What?" Jim asked, totally speechless for anything else.

"I have a plan. We will get out of here together." Jason went back in rank and they continued on through the city, past the Forum and several temples to various deities.

"What? How…?"