Back to the Future 4 The Future is Unwritten

Chapter 3

November 12th 1995 Marty Mcfly and Doc Brown are standing just outside of room 113 of the Hill Valley Mercy Hospital. Inside Joshua Barry is getting ready to be released from the hospital and is gathering his clothes. The Doc peers through the rectangular glass window on the door, then turns to Marty.

"Finally, they are letting him out."

"Yeah, it looks like it. I can't believe we've been here three days already."

"I can't believe It either! How could Jules and Verne act so irresponsibly. Why didn't they tell Clara or I about this!?"

"Relax Doc, They were just a couple of scared kids."

"Well, still this is unacceptable! They single handedly erased there very own existence in one swell swoop! I thought I taught them better."

"Okay Doc, but the damage is already done. So what do we do now?!"

"Hmm, There's only one thing we can do Marty! We have to make sure at all costs Joshua Barry finishes his hover experiments."

"Right Doc, but how do we do that?"

Doc paces around for a moment mumbling to himself. "If he could only somehow persuade him to finish his experiments, then maybe.." Doc stops pacing suddenly noticing a flier sticking out of Marty's pocket."What's this?" He says eyes widen. He reaches down snatching the paper away.

"A flier about the clock tower?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I saw Dave earlier."

"Dave? Your brother!? Did he recognize you?"

"No Doc, He had no idea who I was... I don't think."

Doc grimaces crumbling the paper up to his head. "Marty! I told you to be careful. You know very well that anything we do here can significantly change the course of history." "I know Doc, I know, but I had no choice. I just kinda stumbled up on him, but he didn't recognize me and all he did was hand me that flier." "Ugh, this flier?" Doc asks uncrumpling it. He gives the flier a quick look. Then suddenly his expression changes from distressed to excitement. "Great Scott! This is it!" Thrusting the flier towards Marty, He shouts.

"Take a look at this!" Marty grabs the flier, reading it aloud. "USPTO to hold seminar at clock tower steps on Thursday. What's a USPTO?" Doc begins to laugh."It stands for United States Patent and Trademark Offices!" Marty stares vacantly at Doc, "I don't get it." The Doc shakes his head. "Don't you see what this means? We can pose as patent examiners for this conference and convince Joshua to finish his invention!"

"Patent examiners?"

"Yes! It's the perfect plan! We tell him that he must finish his invention then present it at the seminar on Thursday!"

"Uh, I'm not so sure about this Doc. I mean, do you really think he's going to buy that I'm, a patent examiner?"

"Don't worry about the minor details Marty. All you gotta do is get him to take you to his lab. Then I'll handle the rest. "

"Alright, whatever you say Doc."

An hour later. Outside of the hospital, Joshua is wheeled out to the curb. The nurse pushing him asks.

"You got someone coming to for you?"

"No. Not really. My whole family lives in Connecticut. So, it's just me."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Well, what about friends?"

"No. Not anymore."

"Well, If you gave your friend a call, I'm sure they would..."

"Listen, I don't really feel like talking right now. Is there anyway you can just call me a cab to take me to the airport?"

The nurse sighs and goes back inside, leaving Joshua sitting alone and depressed. Then, out of nowhere Marty walks up grabbing Joshua's wheelchair. He shouts "Hey! What are you doing? Please don't hurt me!"

"Relax, Don't you remember me?"

"Oh, hey! Yeah, your that kid who called the ambulance!"

"Right, how's it going."

"Ha." He laughs. "How do you think it's going? I broke both my arm and my leg. I'm heading back home to Hartford with my tail between my legs and my latest experiment has been an utter failure!"

"Experiments? Are you a scientist or something?"

"Well, I'm really more of a amateur inventor, but now I can barely move. Let alone invent!"

"What a coincidence. I'm actually a Patent clerk for the UPSTO!

"No kidding? Your pretty young to be a patent clerk."

"Yeah, well I'm more of an intern. My friend is really the brains of the operations."

"Huh. That's interesting."

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly were you working on?"

"Oh, well It was a project me and a friend were working on. It's designs for a wingless, perpetual hover engine."

"Really? That sounds interesting. So, what happened to your friend?"

"My friend, he was helping me fund the project, but then he started getting involved with some shady loan sharks."

"Loan sharks? Whoa, that's pretty heavy."

"Yeah, after I found out, we had a fight and he left."

"That's a bummer. Well, what about your project?"

"After I found a place to lay low for awhile. I was able to concentrate more on my designs. I made revolutionary progress! Now, it's hopeless. I have no chance of finishing it the way I am now!"

Marty spins him around and looks him in the eyes. "Maybe, I can help you with that." Joshua shoots a puzzled look towards his way. "Um, how will you do that?"

"My friend and I, we work together. We are kind of amateur inventors ourselves. Maybe we can help you out?"

"Well, that would be amazing, but what's the catch?"

"No catch. We will just keep it a secret between us.

Joshua gave Marty a curious look, but couldn't turn down such a generous offer. He accepts and they both go on their way to Joshua's house.

Later on the other side of town Marty wheels Joshua into his home. The house is cluttered with all kinds of plans and designs for various experiments. Joshua announces.

"Here we are home sweet home."

"Huh." Marty says looking around. "This seems familiar."

They move over to a table set in the middle of the room. On top of it laid a monstrous looking creation. Full of wires, tubes and turbines. "Well, this is it!" Joshua declares. "The wingless, perpetual, hover engine!" Marty grimaces. "That is kind of a mouthful... How bout we just call it the Hover engine?" Joshua strokes his chin thinking for a moment. "Hmm, seems simplistic, but okay. The Hover engine it is!" Marty smiles then turns his attention back over to the machine. "It's kinda big isn't it?" Before Joshua can respond, there is a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?"

"Oh!" Marty explains. "That's my partner!" Marty opens the door, letting in the Doc.

"Hello Mr. Barry. My name is Dr. Von Braun. I'm here to help with your experiments."

"Oh, hello nice to meet you Dr.."

Marty interrupts. "I just call him Doc."

"Okay, Doc. I have to admit I still have no idea why you two are so willing to help me."

"It's simple" Doc explains. "Marty and me are students of science. We just want a chance to help young inventors like yourself create!"

"So, you think my wingless perpe... I mean my Hover engine could actually work?"

"Yes, I believe it can."

The doc passes by Joshua examining the engine. He gives it a good once over.

"Hmm, very interesting. You know about thirty years ago I made something very close to this in design!"

"Wow, really? What happened? Joshua asked excitedly. Doc nonchalantly answers.

"My house burned down, but don't worry. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem was." Suddenly Joshua didn't feel so well and decided to lay down, leaving Doc and Marty to tinker with his creation. They rewire a few circuits, reverse the airflow from the reverberating cylinder And make a few cosmetic changes.

A few hours pass. Joshua Barry is still sleeping away comfortably on his cot. Doc is using a socket wrench on the engine and turns to his assistant who is surfing through the channels of the futuristic looking television.

"Marty? Can I get a hand here for a moment?" Marty looks up from the screen. "Sure Doc." setting down the remote Marty gets up and walks over to help, leaving the television on the news. Abruptly a breaking news report is flooded onto the screen. It seems that an American Airline flight 1572 had just crashed at the Hartford Connecticut airport.

"Huh, That's weird." Marty remarks.

"What's weird? Doc asks.

"Well, before I talked to Joshua today, he was planing on flying to Hartford Connecticut."

"Great Scott Marty!"

"Uh oh, what's up Doc?"

"It looks like I've made a mistake."

"What do you mean?" Doc sits down on a nearby couch putting his hand up to his head.

"I cant believe it! How could I have been so dumb!" Marty flips out and raises his voice.

"What do you mean you made a mistake? C'mon Doc, Speak to me!"

"We were wrong Marty. We should never have come here!" Marty looks Emmett square in the eyes as he continues. "I Just realized. It wasn't Joshua Barry that invented the Hover engine. It was his Brother Sam!"

"How is that possible?"

"Joshua did invent the designs for the Hover engine. That part is correct, but I forgot that it was actually Joey Cohen, A local corrupt businessman who finished the designs after Joshua died in a plane crash. that plane crash right their!"

"Wait a second Doc, that doesn't make sense. He was leaving town on that plane cause Jules and Vern Broke his arms and legs!"

"I'm not so sure about that Marty. What if he went on that flight for another reason!"

"What do you mean? Why else would he want to leave Hill Valley?"

Just then a knock came at the door followed by a voice. "Josh? Are you their? It's me, your old friend Dave, Dave Mcfly." Marty and Doc look at each other in dismay. "Dave Mcfly?"

End Chapter 3

Chapter 4 now available