This is my first MASH fanfiction so I hope that you like it. This idea, as well as a couple more, have been bouncing around in my head for a few years. I'm sure there are mistakes here and there, but I hope you like it anyways. Please let me know what you think. :)
Becca didn't know what had happened to land her here, wherever here was.
The last thing she remembered was Freddy turning on the machine and then she passed out. Now, here she was lying on the ground, staring up at a dark sky and hearing what sounded like fireworks in the distance.
She sat up slowly and was happy to find that she was still in one piece. She didn't have any pain and nothing appeared to be broken or damaged. That was lucky, she hated medical centers and refused to visit them. They were so...impersonal.
The sky was brightening as she sat there examining herself. Soon she was able to see clearly. She was surrounded by trees and lying in dirt. Next to her leg was her knapsack. She hadn't had a chance to put it down when she had seen what Freddy was up to. Wherever she was, the knapsack had traveled with her.
She picked it up and examined the contents. She didn't know where she was or how long she would be here, all she had to survive on was what was in the knapsack.
Inside she found a small box of her favorite snack, Molly Moo's Sponge Cake, with only 3 of the 8 still left. She pulled one out as she thought about it. She also saw her sheet music for Walker's Ninth Symphony, the most popular piece of classical music in 2069, that she was trying to learn to play. A history book on the region that they were conducting their experiments in. The land once called Korea, but split during the Korean War in the 1950s into basically 2 countries of North and South Korea. They, like the rest of the world, had reunited under the World Order in 2086.
She stood and examined her clothes. She hadn't had a chance to change into lab wear when she arrived and rushed to stop Freddy so she was still in one of her favorite vintage outfits. It was know as the Lara Croft look based on a popular video game in the late 20th century. It was simple enough, but very few could actually pull it off properly. Becca was in the middle somewhere, but still liked it enough to wear it.
She checked for any rips or anything that would make the clothing worthless. Luckily they were still fine, just dirty. She stood and threw her knapsack over her shoulder, finding that now that the sun had risen the heat was rising as well. She hoped that wherever she was, she was found quickly. Wherever she was, the World Order wasn't properly regulating the temperature, if they even were allowed here.
She walked out of the trees, staying cautious as she did. She was a scientist and historian, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't perceive her as a threat.
As she exited the trees she felt relief at finding herself standing on an old dirt road. She had no idea which way on it she should go, but at least she had a starting point. She moved back under the treeline hoping that the shade would cool her than being in direct sunlight. She took a deep breath and looked both ways down the road hoping to figure out which way to go.
Suddenly something zoomed past her heading to her left. She jumped at the sudden movement and moved slightly deeper into the treeline.
She watched as another went by as well. Large, olive green vehicles traveling on primitive wheels. On the side of each of the vehicles was a white square with a red cross in the center. Becca scratched her brain to remember what that meant. Red had been removed from most color schemes when scientific research brought forward information stating that red was a trigger color for anger and violence as it reminded people of blood.
If it wasn't for allowances as a scientist to archived photos and videos, Becca would never have recognized the color for what it was.
She watched as another olive green vehicle also rushed past, all going in the same direction. Becca stood, for once glad that her outfit was designed to blend into the surroundings rather than stand out. She debated heading in the opposite direction of the primitive vehicles, but she found that she just couldn't help her natural curiosity. She turned left and followed them down the road, still staying within the treeline.
She followed the winding road towards it's destination. The heat made time seem to slow down and she couldn't help the overwhelming thirst that consumed her.
Finally she stood next to a structure that couldn't have been built in the last century. The walls were wood pieces that were almost to the point of collapse. She walked around the building, listening to the people talking inside in a language she didn't recognize. The World Order required that all people learn the top 5 languages of the world at the time of connection so that there would never be a miscommunication. It had been drilled into Becca's head to learn English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Latin. There were other languages as well, but they were considered extra-curricular languages that one could learn if they so chose. Becca had also learned a couple more for fun, but she didn't use them as often and tended to be rusty at them.
She finished her walk about the building and found herself looking across the road at what could only be described as a small village.
There were people there, all rushing about, all wearing the same olive green colors as the vehicles had been that she had seen driving by earlier. It was chaos as she watched them move.
Another, unfamiliar, noise hit her senses and forced Becca to look up. There was a helicopter, something she had only see pictures of, flying through the air. There hadn't been a helicopter. In use since 2056 after they had been made obsolete by flying vehicles. In fact, all the items these people were using were obsolete. What was going on here?
She turned her back against the building, making sure to keep herself out of sight. It didn't make sense what was going on here. However, she couldn't help the feeling like this was something she had see before, read about possibly.
She pulled out the history book and opened it to the information about the Korean War. There were a lot of facts and figures that she skipped, looking for something specific, something that her mind remembered seeing before that matched what she was seeing now. Then, her eyes fell on a picture she was sure she had seen and dismissed right after the first time she glanced through this book.
There was a man working on a body lying on a table, Underneath that was the caption "Captain Martin Warson operates on wounded soldier at M*A*S*H 8063rd in Korea."
There was a whole section dedicated to Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals and Becca took a minute to review it. There was lots of information about the set up and the way they were run, what they did exactly and how many there were. There was even a chart listing the survival rates from each unit during the war. The one at the top of all the lists was M*A*S*H 4077th, there was even a picture of Colonel Potter, who ran the unit during the last year of the war.
She put her book back in her knapsack and looked back at the facility. There was almost no one outside now, only a few left checking on something lying on the ground. She tossed her knapsack back over her shoulder and stood. Maybe this was a re-enactment or something and she would be able to get home.
She walked up towards the facility and found her eyes drawn up to a large wooden sign. "M*A*S*H 4077th Best Care Anywhere."
Becca blinked and read the sign again. This had to be a re-enactment. Any other possibility was crazy and terrified her and she wasn't going to contemplate it.
She walked slowly around, looking at the tents that were set up. There were signs indicating which one each tent was supposed to represent. The detail was exact and in all her times studying history never had she come across a group of performers so dedicated to authenticity.
It made her wish she had brought her memory chip with her so she could make some recordings to take home.
She took a deep breath and smelled food. She turned and looked up at a tent labeled as "Officer's Mess." She stepped inside. It was quiet, but she could still smell food. She walked up to a counter that had lids covering pans on it. She looked around and found that she was still all alone here. She lifted a lid and saw something that smelled delicious underneath. She opened another and found a different delicious smell. She hadn't known that food could smell so good. She usually had a food tablet twice a day and continued working, in fact most people in her field did the same thing. Very few people actually ate real food anymore when food tablets were so efficient.
She grabbed a tray and loaded it up with some food. The Molly Moo's had only taken her so far and she was starving. She recovered the food and then served herself whatever that dark liquid was in the tall silver pot before taking a seat.
She didn't know what these foods were, only that they were different colors, each one giving her a new experience with food she had never had before.
The white colored food looked mushy, but tasted creamy. The dark slab looked slimy but had a rich flavor. The green stuff just look weird, but it was good too. There was even this orange thing that tasted different than she had expected. The dark liquid wasn't sweet like she had thought, but very bitter. Becca found she cared very little for that.
As she ate Becca never noticed how much time actually passed and didn't notice as others came into the tent as well, or that she was drawing attention to herself. It wasn't until a body sat in front of her that Becca bothered to stop eating and look up, her eyes widening in shock.
The man sitting before her was an older man, with white hair poking out underneath a dark green hat. He was wearing the same color green on his clothes as well and his eyes were focused on her.
Becca blinked as she suddenly realized just who was sitting in front of her.
"Hello there young lady, my name is..."
"Colonel Sherman Potter."
Potter raised an eyebrow at Becca but she didn't seen to notice. She looked around and found herself looking into faces that she hadn't noticed, faces that were all looking right at her in confusion. She turned back to Potter.
"What year is it?"
The man seemed a bit confused by her question but answered nonetheless. "It's 1952."
Becca felt panic overthrow her as she stared at the man. It was too authentic, too realistic. She realized that now. She should have realized that something was very wrong when she saw the helicopter. Parts weren't made for them anymore and the only working one was on display in the Smithsonian Aviation Museum. The red color on the vehicles would be impossible for anyone to come by without facing severe fines. The signs were there, she just didn't put the pieces together.
Freddy's machine didn't show glimpses of the past, it could send people back to the past. It had sent her back in time, with no way or hope of getting back home.
Becca grew light-headed before she fell backwards, passing out. The last things she registered was Potter yelling words she didn't hear and strong arms surrounding her as she fell.