Chapter 1
Today is the day.
Heading into work I am filled with nervousness about the prospect of testing the machine on people for the first time, and excitement over what would happen. Years of testing and tweaking and experimentation had all lead up to this day. And it all came down to me, the idiot volunteer, to make hundreds of dreams come to reality.
'Are you ready hun?' Zach, my fiancé and lab partner asks as he kisses me gently on the cheek.
'As I'll ever be' I reply, walking with him down the long stretch of corridor toward the lab that houses the machine.
I hear 'Good Luck' echo along the corridor and a few rounds of spattered applause as I push open the doors to the lab and hurry over to the med station for one last medical check.
'Heartbeat is good, white blood count is normal. Is your implant working properly?' Lisa the lab doctor asks, shooting a quick glance at Zach.
'I'm still not pregnant if that's what you're asking' I respond laughing slightly, fingering my contraceptive implant.
'Fair enough. We just have one last thing to do before we get started today.' Lisa continues, turning around to grab a large syringe full of a pale green liquid. My heart drops, even though I knew this was coming. 'The general vaccine. This concoction should provide you with protection, even just basic immunity to all the known viral diseases in our database. Fingers crossed you won't come across anything we haven't discovered yet.'
I brace myself for the sharp prick of the injection, gripping Zach's hand like a python. I may be scientist but I am by no means a fan of needles. Especially not ones going into my skin.
'All set' Lisa declares patting my leg and spinning around again. 'Good luck Kathy' she shouts over her shoulder as Zach and I walk away. He is holding tight to my hand, gently running his thumb across the back of mine.
'Are you sure you want to do this?' He asks at the boundary of the machine, looking deep into my eyes.
'I'm sure. What better way to learn more about what I love than to try?' I respond.
'True but that won't stop me from worrying about you' He says leaning in to kiss me.
'It's time' A voice comes out over the loudspeaker and Zach moves away, putting on a pair of safety specs. I walk towards the centre of the machine and take my place on the metal plate.
'Initiating power up. In 3…2…1'
A bright white light flashes behind my eyes and I feel myself falling, falling and falling. Then splash into a shallow patch of water. The metal plate lands beside me, sparking and flashing as it sinks into the water.
'No, oh no no no. Shit.' I mutter diving down after it. Pulling it up to the surface I see it is damaged, the water has soaked the circuitry and the powering up has warped the shell. 'Oh SHIT!' I shout, throwing it on the shore and watching in despair as it fractures apart.
Hoofbeats. Hoofbeats in the distance growing ever closer as I try to clamber out of what now seems to be a large shallow fishing lake. As I finally climb onto the shore, covered in mud and soaked from head to toe a horse and rider comes into view. A stunning dark-haired woman atop a glorious chestnut mare. She draws to a stop beside me and gazes down in shock at my mud-covered jeans and low-cut top, as I stare at the necklace sitting clearly at her throat. A pearl studded B. One I've only ever seen in portraits and photographs.
Today was the day we tested the time machine. It was supposed to send me forward, to see the science of the future. Now I'm in the past face to face with Anne Boleyn. And my only way of getting home is shattered at my feet.
