Chapter 8 - Arrival
Just when Sheldon thought he was going to crash into the planet, he found himself standing on it. The colors almost overwhelming him, they were all completely wrong and in this wild mix of color, he could see beings. He didn't think they knew he was there until one small being turned to look at him, then Sheldon was gone again, back in the energy stream racing back to the wormhole. For the moment it didn't seem as scary and Sheldon's mind drifted back to the snapshot his mind made of the planet he had just appeared on, and the being that saw him. It was smaller than the others, it could have been a child and it eyes increased in size when it looked his way, Sheldon was sure it saw him, even if only for a second. This was truly fascinating, a discovery worthy of Spock himself, there were beings in alternate universes and Sheldon had actually seen one. However as the energy stream entered the wormhole again, the place of null time, Sheldon had another worry, would his original plans come true and would he actually come close to where he wanted to go?
xxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxx
Leonard had looked at everything, in the room, for about a half hour and the more he looked the more depressed he got, the equipment seemed to confirm his original observation, upon walking in, it was a working time machine. What was even more disturbing was it was left running, meaning that Sheldon may now be wandering though time at that very moment. He sat down on one of the chairs, in front of the computer, and was about to touch the mouse, to make the screen come up, but thought better of it, they needed an expert, they needed Howard. So Leonard pulled out his phone and quickly sent Howard a text, telling him to get there immediately, then after hitting send closing his eyes and pinching the top of his nose, he was on the verge of getting a huge headache.
Leonard sat there a couple moments, with his eyes closed, until something dawned on him, he remembered he was not alone and yet the girls had said nothing. His eyes shot open and he looked for Penny, immediately feeling bad as he saw her standing near the door staring at him with eyes that showed confusion and fear. Leonard got up to go to her while looking for Amy, who he found was still walking around the room staring at everything in wonder.
Leonard walked right up to Penny and took her in his arms, she offered no resistance, her head going right to his shoulder, her mouth near his ear. "Leonard what does this all mean?" she whispered.
Leonard closed his eyes again, he wanted to comfort her, but that would mean lying to her, and they were too much partners for him to treat her like that, especially now. "Honey, I think that is a time machine and I think Sheldon used it."
Penny voice cracked with he next words, "This is bad isn't it?"
Leonard slightly nodded his head, "Yeah, it is."
"Leonard what is going to happen now?"
"I honestly have no idea." At least Leonard didn't have to lie about that.
xxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxxTIMExxxx
Sheldon appeared exactly where he had planned, in a small field in England, the area still looking the same from when he Googled a satellite picture of it from his time, but the question now was, did he land in the right time. His fears were soon alleviated when he heard the droning noise and looked up to see the B-17 flying in the distance, slowly coming towards him, almost to a point overhead, the sound and the silhouette matching exactly with the information provided over the internet he studied before he left. It was even colored olive drab and Sheldon knew at least he is in the right period of time, World War II, but again he wondered if he got the right date. He pulled out his map and took his bearings, he needed to go north to the next town, so with a little nervousness he started his walk north, his sincere hope that he didn't botch his timing up again like he did with the release of his String Theory paper.
It seemed to take forever, but in actuality it was only a little over an hour before Sheldon got to the edge of the town and started down the streets. He knew his uniform was right for the time when an enlisted man saluted him as they passed on the sidewalk, Sheldon returning the salute as best he could after practicing for the whole day yesterday, which was really in the future now. There were other soldiers too, some who passed him and he had to return their salutes also, however soon he found everyone was saluting him, and although it was tedious, he became nervous at all the attention he was getting. What bothered him even more was that they all seemed to stare at him and it suddenly made him wonder if maybe there was something wrong in his mannerisms or the way he looked.
Sheldon was getting more nervous by the minute and was looking at some men across the street who where looking at him, and he thought talking about him, when he ran right into another Army officer, almost knocking him down. The collision stunned him and Sheldon was about to say he was sorry, but he man quickly jumped to attention and saluted, "I'm so sorry sir, please forgive me." Sheldon stared at the man confused, not understanding why he was apologizing when Sheldon was the one who bumped into him, but he saluted him back.
"Sir is everything all right?" The man looking at him now, as Sheldon stared at him, with a confused expression on his face.
Sheldon shook his head, trying to understand what was happening, "Yes, thank you and I was the one who bumped into you, so I am sorry."
The man stared at him for a moment longer then relaxed a little. "Thank you sir, I will be more careful though in the future. Sir you seemed a little lost, is anything I could do to help you."
Sheldon looked at the man's rank and searched his mind for the rank chart he studied, "Thank you Major, yes maybe you can help me." Sheldon began his cover story, he had made up, to get to where he wanted to go. "I just got in today on the train and I need to go to the airbase."
"Sir, I am from the airbase, I came here today with a couple of other pilots, we have room to take you with us when we go back." The Major smiled at him.
Sheldon wanted to smile, but kept his face passive. "Thank you Major, when will you be going back?"
"Well I was going to go to the café across the street and wait, because the guys will be back with the car in about a half hour. Would you like to join me sir?"
Sheldon nodded trying not to show the relief he suddenly felt, and followed the man to a table outside the café to order tea while he waited. The British tea was very strong, so Sheldon nursed his drink while looking around, the time period seemed right, but he still didn't know the date. He wanted to ask the Major what the date was, but was afraid that it would be too weird a request and would only make the man suspicious, so Sheldon kept quiet.
"Sir can I ask why you are going to the airbase, we don't get many full Colonels here. To be honest except for the Wing Commander, you are the highest ranked officer we have seen around here for months." The Major asked timidly.
Sheldon now realized why everyone was looking at him, his rank, he never even thought that his rank would make him stand out. He was masquerading as a Colonel Mark Owen, an Office of Strategic Services agent who served in England, during World War II searching out spies. He was assigned, as a cover, to the Inspector Generals (IG) office, the only person in that office knowing his real job, the Brigadier General in charge of the office. Sheldon read all about the man on the internet, released secret Government spy documentation, released since it was well over 50 years old and the people involved now dead.
Sheldon picked Owen because he could, as part of the IG's office have access to almost everything, and he could travel anywhere, his home unit confirming any assignment he was on, his General personally vouching for him when someone tried to check why he was doing something. Also, according to records Sheldon had read on the internet, Owen was on a three week assignment during the time Sheldon needed to be here, so he could masquerade as him without fear of being caught, if he had the right date. "Major, I am from the Inspector Generals office and I am doing a no notice inspection of the Air Base."
The Majors eyes went wide, this was a big deal. "Um Sir could you excuse me for a minute?" As soon as Sheldon nodded the Major ran into the Café proper and found a phone. It took him a few minutes to get the airbase and another few minutes to get the Wing Commander on the line. "Sir this is Major Handson. Sir you are not going to believe who I am sitting with in town right now." Handson then proceeded to tell the Wing Commander about the Colonel from the IG office.
While the Major was away though, Sheldon looked around Café, trying to find a clue to what date it was. He almost smiled when he saw an enlisted man sitting at the table on the far end, a newspaper in hand he was reading. Sheldon stood up and quickly walked over to the man. "Excuse me, I was wondering if that is today's paper?"
The man seemed immediately bothered by the interruption, but as soon as his eyes went to Sheldon's rank, they became as large as saucers, "Yes Sir, today's Star and Stripes."
"Could I just take a quick look at the first page, for a minute." Sheldon asked the man nicely.
"Yes Sir, of course." the soldier immediately handing Sheldon the front section.
Sheldon acted like he was looking at the articles on the front page, sensing the man looking at him the whole time. After acting like he read the titles of each article, he quickly glanced at the date, his breath catching as the month, day and year sunk into his mind. "Thank you." Sheldon handed back the paper and went back towards his table, a tiny smile forming on his face as he walked, he was only 4 days before the date he wanted. It was actually amazing, Sheldon had successfully arrived when he wanted to be there, in his mind he was dancing a happy dance, his plan was going to work.