Outta Time - Part VI - Priorities

Jim was holding back the chaotic thoughts that began to run through his head, he did not want to be stuck here like this. If he was going to stay anywhere in time, that would be of his choosing and even then, well after the Device had been thoroughly tested and all aspects of the nature of time travel have been sufficiently studied. Only then would he make a decision if he would, or even could, move to a different time. It had to be his choice, so he needed to come up with a plan, and quick. Since his wife's death, he had often thought about moving to a different time, maybe Rome or the 1920's. He favored both equally.

"I need to get in that barn!" Jim thought to himself, trying not to be frantic. "I guess I can make a run for it…"  He wiped the sweat off of his brow, the heat was starting to get to him. He looked around and saw several Indian's riding on horseback with hatchets, screaming and yelling, townsfolk running around trying to put out fires and keep away from the savages. Off in the distance he saw smoke coming from a few of the many tobacco farms that surrounded the village. "This is just a light raid, not an all out attack", he thought as he watched the Indians try to herd the residents toward the middle of town.

Just as Jim was about to run, a female Indian ran up the road to the barn and waved off the warriors, pointing back the way she came. Amazingly they all rode off towards the main part of the town. She was quite fetching; long dark hair, slender and an air of authority poised in perfect stature. Clearly she has some influence in her tribe. "If this is 1607 Jamestown, then these are the Powhatan Indian's.

The Indian Maiden sees Jim and motions for him to come over quickly then pointing to the school. She seemed anxious but not afraid. Genuine. This maiden wanted Jim to get to the school, maybe to help out the fire…? Jim had know way of knowing, but he did need to get into the School/Church.

"Okay..." Jim ran off to the school, glancing at her several times to ensure her intentions. She just smiled at Jim and kept checking over her shoulder.

Arriving at the school, Jim opened the door. Flames spat out in a fury then calmed down, the smoke was ferocious and everywhere. Through the smoky haze he could see the Device on the shelf where he left it. "I can make this", he thought as he ran in. The sounds that the schools structure made as he ran for his life through the classroom/chapel would make any person think the worst. The groaning and popping from the wood as it burned seared his ears and imagination. "I'm a damn scientist!" he yelled as he finished his sprint and made it into the anteroom.

Jim made it to the Device and grabbed it just as the roof collapsed in the classroom of the school, blocking his way out of this little room. The smoke got thicker and with the fall of the roof, the heat was overwhelming. Jim grabbed another piece of cloth from the shelf and put it over his nose and mouth and began to turn right and left, panicking and looking around, trying to figure out a way away from here.

"Think Jim!" he said to himself. "There is always a solution", Jim said over and over in a hushed voice, panic has fully set in. Just then the device started beeping. The same sound it made in Dodge City. The Device needed to vent, as it was required to do to maintain balance in the system. "Of course!" Jim thought. "This just might work!"

He pulled the Device out of the wrap he made earlier and held it upside down. There were a couple access panels on the bottom, but he wouldn't need those. He took the PDA in one hand and set it to open the vents. The vents that proved to be useful in the old west, maybe they will worked a second time.

"C'mon…" Jim closed his eyes and hit the button.

Jim opened the vents and the discharge forcefully blew a cold, white, frosty smoke upwards to the flames licking through the wood roof. At first the flames seemed to get hotter but then as the wood cooled and frosted over, the oxygen that was need to fuel the fire simply couldn't get through the ice. "Yes!" Jim lowered the device and checked the readout on the PDA, it read: NEXT PROGRAMMED TIME?  YES/NO.  This was normal. The device was required to vent prior to the next "hop" and also if the device was beginning to overheat.

"Should I go?" Jim wondered. "What if I miss something here?" He tried to imagine where he would go next as the PDA was not programmed to display the sequence of "hops" one would take in their journey. Since everything was supposed to be pre-programmed and prepared for, it never came up. Jim will correct this error when he returns home. "If there is a home…" Jim remembered the violence at the lab right before he was forced to leave to protect the Device. That was yesterday. Jim has not slept since yesterday, the journey has begun to take it's toll on him. The actual travelling through time was nothing, sure it was a little scary and the silence and darkness were very surreal, but the actual "Hoping" took very little out of him. But, the death and violence that preceded this trip was awful, and, as the full weight of what happened started to sink in, Jim realized he was exhausted.

The PDA started beeping a reminder and Jim hit the button to go to the next time. He was consumed by the thought of missing something historic. The reason the device was made portable was to make possible the notion that one could view history and correct errors. This trip, his first, was not planned to be taken this way. This was an escape and now he is stuck to take 5 more "Hops" before returning home, or his home time. The priority was to see this through and return to help the wounded and get help for everyone. His reservations were put aside and he focused on the mission.

The world started to fade away as the blackness overcame him…

Outside, Pocahontas stood there, wondering what happened to that stranger and trying to figure out what's happening in the school that would make such an awful  noise. "Did I just help the Devil?" she though to herself as, slowly, the school/church collapsed to the ground, sending embers flying everywhere.

Darkness…

Loud Deafening Darkness. Silence...