Time Travel

Part Two: Chapter Two

She knelt down in front of the car's side view mirror, dressed in the Confederate gray, using the mirror to carefully adjust the kepi sitting neatly on her head. Then she stood up and turned around towards her friend also wearing the Confederate uniform. "How do I look?" She asked, "Like a leader?"

Standing at attention her friend saluted. "Yes, mon General! Every bit!"

"Good." Star returned the salute. "Then we shouldn't we wasting any time, should we? We've got places to be and people to meet!"

Dana nodded in agreement. "Indeed we do."

Grinning, Star checked to make sure the car was locked. It had been two years since they had changed history and taking the machine back in time at the very location that they stood at then, Gettysburg National Military Park. It was a place they all treasured, as it was as close as they thought they'd ever get to being back in the place they knew so much about ever again. But they all carried the memories with them.

Nurf had gotten a job at the park, and they knew they'd see her around as well, it was their plan to hopefully meet up with her later, possibly even find her while she was working on the battlefield.

Star glanced up at the Virginia monument they had parked near before turning towards the field. "Let's go."

Grinning as they set off, Dana began to hum Jine the Cavalry, Star walking purposely across the field beside her, smiling slightly as they went. "I still always picture it the way it was back then, don't you Dana? It's a sight you can never forget."

Dana nodded in agreement. "I know exactly what you mean, mon General! It's amazing!"

Neither of them could go to the field anymore without picturing how it had looked that day when they had gone back in time to 1863 and actually changed history. It seemed that no one but them was aware of it. Instead, no one but them seemed to think anything of the fact that Lo Armistead had survived the war, and the marker that had once been where Armistead fell wasn't there anymore, although Star could still picture it, and remember posing for pictures beside it. Only, she couldn't even find those pictures anymore.

They arrived at the High Water Mark and Dana took off her hat as Star paused just over the stone wall. "You close your eyes and then you see it, so clearly, as if we were there again," Star said softly.

Just then, there was a yell and something crashed into Star, bowling her over. Calvin sat on top of her, glaring fiercely. "Where is it?" he yelled.

Dropping her kepi as she was bowled over, Star's eyes widened. "Where is what?"

Calvin shook star. "You know what I'm talking about! Where's the manual?"

Stepping over and dragging Calvin off of her, Hobbes said, "Calvin, maybe we should back up and explain before jumping to conclusions."

"Yeah, an explanation would be rather nice." Dana reached down and helped Star up.

"Thanks Dana." Star looked at Calvin and Hobbes. "Please, so explain."

Growling furiously under his breath, Calvin's face turned red as Hobbes calmly held him back. "We've discovered the time machine's manual is missing."

"Oh." Dana nodded and paused. "And that's all?"

Hobbes nodded as Star spoke. "I see… So that's why Calvin's all worked up. I don't have it and I don't know where it is, but perhaps we can help you find it. Where did you last see it?"

"I don't remember," Calvin said, "But the last time we used the time machine- which was when you hijacked it!- it was in the bottom storage compartment.

Dana blinked. "Storage? It's a box."

"Don't ask." Hobbes shrugged. "I don't."

"Okay." Dana nodded.

"Well, if you had it the last time you used it," Star said, "I suppose the best course of action is to look around the place you used it at. I take it that's why you're here?"

Hobbes nodded. "I don't think it's that big a deal really."

He shrugged until Calvin steps on his tail and he let out a small howl of protest.

Raising one eyebrow, Star looked at them. "Well… ok… Shall we look for it? That's all we can do after all."

Dana looked at Calvin and Hobbes who had started fighting with each other and shrugged. "I guess we can look. Calvin and Hobbes seem to be working on the problem quite nicely."

"Indeed." Star nodded. "Nothing's changed has it?"

"Nothing at all, apparently." Dana shook her head wryly.

"So… We know what the problem is." Star looked around. "I don't see how the manual can still be just on the ground after all this time, even if it was dropped here to begin with.

Dana nodded in agreement. "If it was dropped when we were at the battle, it'll more than likely be gone. It's been over a century since then." She paused. "I mean, a century since the battle. It's only been… How long was it since we traveled there?"

She held her head. "Ow, my brain…"

"Don't try figuring out the logistics," Hobbes said, "It only makes it worse."

Star thought for a moment. "It's been… Three years maybe? No wait… two years! It was two years ago!"

"That's still long odds for a book in the elements," Dana said, "It's probably nothing but pulp now."

Calvin's eyes widened. "Pulp? Noooooo! I worked for weeks on that!"

Hobbes shrugged. "At least you didn't have to write War and Peace. That took Tolstoy years to write, I hear.

"Yeah," Star said, "I don't think you're going to have much luck finding it Calvin…"

Just at that moment, a time machine exited the vertex right in front of them, carrying Armistead, Pickett and Hancock. All at once, Dana, Calvin, Hobbes and Star's eyes all grew wide in surprise. "How'd your time machine get here Calvin?" Star asked.

"That's not mine!" Calvin said, "Mine's there!" He pointed to his time machine nearby. Hobbes looked from one to another. "You didn't duplicate them, did you, Calvin?"

"No!" Calvin said as they all stared.

Inside the time machine, Pickett grinned. "We made it, Lo!"

"I told you it would work," Armistead remarked.

"We're..." Hancock looked at the other two, "You planned to come here?" He stressed the last word.

Armistead nodded and smiled at his friend. "Yes, we planned to come here. This is a time machine."

"But here?" He looked at his friend with a raised brow.

"It's the future," Armistead explained, "This is what the battlefield looks like, nearly a century and a half later."

Hancock took a moment to survey the ground, it was cluttered with monuments and plaques. He stopped when he noticed what was known to those in the 21st century as the Pennsylvania monument. "Well...this is certainly interesting..."

Nodding again, Armistead smiled faintly. "That's why we came here."

"Look!" Star had been watching the exchange. "Lo's in there! He's alive!"

"So he is." Dana grabbed Star to prevent her from glomping him.

Armistead looked over at them and blinked. "George… is it just me or do those people look familiar?"

"I do believe you're correct Lo!" Pickett climbed out of the time machine, Armistead following him as he walked towards Dana, Calvin, Hobbes and Star. All of them but Calvin quickly saluted.

"It's not just you," Hancock followed. "I believe we had seen them in this very area once before?"

"General Pickett," Star said, giving a small nod in greeting.

Calvin walked forward them, glaring at Pickett and Armistead. "Awright! Fess up! How'd you get hold of my time machine!"

Dana and Hobbes stared at him. "Calvin!"

"That's no way to talk to these people Calvin," Star said, stepping forward and looking at both generals. "Let me put it a bit nicer. How'd you get here?"

Pickett bowed and then indicated Armistead. "Why, that answer is simple put, miss, thanks to the ever-brilliant mind of Lothario here."

Dana grinned. "Brilliant, huh?"

"Fiery intellect, if you will..." Hancock smirked, remembering the phrase his friend often used.

"Well… I wouldn't say it's brilliant," Armistead said, "I just followed instructions on how to make it."

Star blinked. "Instructions…? You don't mean…?"

All at once, the puzzle pieces started to click together in all of their heads. "You stole my manual!" Calvin shouted, "Give it back!"

Hobbes held Calvin back from charging at Armistead as the Confederate General raised an eyebrow. "Your manual?" He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, holding it up. "You mean this?"

"Yes!" Calvin made a wild grab for it but Hobbes stepped between them.

"Let's try to solve this without any more fuss, shall we?" He suggested.

Dana nodded. "I agree. Calm down, Calvin."

Nodding in agreement, Star said, "There's no need for us all to attack each other over it. At least you know where the manual is now Calvin."

"I found this booklet on the ground," Armistead explained, "After you all left. You left it there."

"Oh good," Dana said, "That's one problem solved. I assume you followed the manual to make that duplicate machine there."

She nodded towards the second time marching as Calvin protested. "That's copyright infringement!"

"Calvin, hush!" Hobbes told him.

Armistead nodded. "For a while I just kept the manual, but then after the war I started to think about it more and how you'd all gotten into our time. So I decided to give it a try."

Star grinned as Dana nodded again. "Wow that's something. You should have been in the Engineers' Corps, Lo."

"Indeed!" Star nodded.

"I wasn't trained for that…" Armistead explained.

Dana shrugged. "Well, you seem to have done alright here. "

"Anybody can follow instructions," Calvin said, "I invented it, though."

Sighing, Dana rolled her eyes. "That's been made clear several times, Calvin. We understand you invented it."

Armistead held out the manual to Calvin. "Well, since this appears to belong to you then, would you like it back?"

"You bet I would!" Calvin said, taking the manual and tucking it underneath his arm. "Thanks!"

Hobbes shrugged. "Well, that's one problem solved. Shall we try to repair the machine now?"

Calvin nodded. "Come on, Hobbes. Take the tool kit. I'll open the hood."

As they started to walk back to the machine, Dana raised an eyebrow. "Toolkit…? Hood…? Never mind, I won't ask."

Star watched them go. "I don't think we really want to know." She looked back at Armistead and Pickett them. "I never thought I'd see either of you again!"

"Well, here we are!" Pickett grinned widely and bowed dramatically. "At your service!"

"Oh, General." Dana grinned as well.

Also grinning and trying to restrain herself at the same time, Star spoke. "Can I… would you be annoyed if I hugged both of you…?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem at Gettysburg, General," Dana said, "Glomp away by all means."

The grin spreading across Star's face, she glomped both Pickett and Armistead at the same time. Dana cracked up upon seeing it. "Nothing has changed at all, has it?"

Armistead raised an eyebrow. "No, it doesn't appear that it has."

"I'm so glad you decided to come to our time period!" Star said, huggling both of them.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, as I said earlier," Pickett said.

There was a wry look on Dana's face as she looked around. "Apparently so. Good thing there's no one staring at us…"

Star let go of Pickett and Armistead then and stood up. "You don't suppose anyone will recognize them…"

"I'm not sure about that actually," Dana said.

"Because if someone recognizes them," Star said, glancing around, "I wouldn't know where to start explaining."

Dana nodded in agreement. "Let's hope no one recognizes them," Star said, turning her attention to Pickett and Armistead. "What do you think, could you pass for someone of our time?"

"I do hope so," Pickett replied, "However, there are many things I am not familiar with. Such as those metal creations there." He pointed towards the parked cars on the side of the road. "What is their use, may I ask?"

"Oh, those are cars," she explained, "They are like electronical horse that we use to get around."

"Electronical?" Pickett asked.

"Electricity," Dana said, nodding. "It's been adapted quite a bit since the 1860s. Most everything we use is based off of it in some way or another."

Star also nodded. "She's right. There's electricity in every building, computers where you can talk to people without being face to face, TVs where you can watch plays without having to have people performing them and CD players and the like that can play music. And there there's cars that we use to get around, and even airplanes that can take people into the sky and fly."

Pickett blinked as Dana put a hand on Star's arm. "That'll take some explaining, too. Computers, TVs, CD players and airplanes are all technologies of this time."

"Yup." Star nodded again. "They were all invented since the 1800s. We'll have to show you how some of them work. Would you like me to show both of you what it's like to ride in a car?"

"I don't see why not." Pickett grinned at Armistead. "Shall we?"

Armistead nodded as Dana also grinned. "I suppose we'll have to get used to it."

Grinning just like everyone else, Star started towards her car. "Come on then, let's go." She unlocked it and opened the door to the driver's seat, pointing at the handles. "Pull those to get the doors open."

Pickett pulled the handle. "This is sort of a miniaturized locomotive, then?"

Dana nodded. "Except it's not run by coal. And it's smaller."

"Everyone in," Star instructed, slipping into the drivers seat as Armistead pulled on the handle, opening the door and climbing into the passengers seat. "Dana… do you mind showing them how to buckle their seat belts…?"

"Sure, General." Dana turned towards Pickett and Armistead. "The belts help keep you safe if there's an accident." She buckled her own seat belt. "Like this."

Armistead looked at his seat belt and tried to buckle it although he couldn't get it. In the back, Hancock, who had followed them to the car, fiddled with it for a moment before getting it buckled. Pickett, put the belt on backwards, leaving Dana trying to smother her giggles. "No, like this." She fixed Pickett's belt. "See?"

"Oh, yes," Pickett said, "That makes sense. Though it seems to be a might restricting piece of equipment, if you ask me."

Dana shrugged. "Well, it's the law now, so…"

"How do you do it…?" Armistead was still fiddling with his seat belt.

"Like this." Dana leaned forward into the front seat to help him with the belt and got it buckled. "There you go, General."

"Thank you," Armistead said.

Star twisted around to look into the back of the car. "Everyone buckled?"

Dana nodded. "Let's roll, General."

Turning back to the front of the car, Star started it and backed out of their parking space. Pickett's eyes were wide, and Dana grinned at Star. They were starting their first lesson on their time period.