Welcome to England 1895; Sept 13th A Friday to Sept 17th A Thursday.

Chapter 2: Pinball Wizard

JACK LEAVES CARE PACKAGE.

In the year of our Lord 1895 on September 12 at 11:59 at night; Jack Kilroy stirred. 'I wonder if Professor Wells is foolish enough to time travel without taking me with him?' Jack Kilroy asked himself. He decided that was a distinct possibility and therefore didn't want to leave anything to chance. Jack went and got a nap sack and put various supplies in it along with a note. He placed the knapsack underneath the chair and the note on the seat; along with professor Wells' colt 1861 Navy revolver on top of the note. Jack looked at the arrangement and said, "What could possibly go wrong?" and went to bed.

The handwritten note to Professor Wells said:…

Dear Professor Wells,

I have a confession to make. I myself am also a time traveler and I have been at it for a greater duration than you. Thus since we are such good friends I want to make certain you take a few things with you; and I also want to assure you that I have included a flare gun that I will see no matter where and when you use it; should you need help.

The first thing that you must without exception have on you at all times is a f&*(ing gun and knife. Trust me; I like to call these things the 'leave me alone devices' or LMAD. You need to think of these things like a soldier thinks of his rifle in time of war; your weapon is your life.

I have put in your knapsack; clean extra powder (4f); caps, gun butter, slugs, and patches; all in waterproof containers. I know that you have a fondness for matches but I have included a technologically advanced lighter that I picked up in the 22nd century and it will serve you well; feel free to keep it. I have also included a multitool which is like a Swiss Army knife from the future. I have also included a compass and a small journal that is waterproof along with a waterproof pen.

Perhaps the most useful thing that I have included in here is a universal translator. I cannot impress upon you how important it is that you take this with you and use it. It is very simple. The device clips on your belt and you push the activation button to on. It is literally that simple. I would explain to you how it works exactly except I don't have any idea. I'm not much of an engineer but I do know that it works. It is powered by a small battery but the battery life is measured in about 60,000 hours and it has an auto off switched to preserve the battery life. With the universal translator you should be able to read and hear any language you encounter and the same is true of anyone who encounters you. They will be able to understand you and anything you write down for them regardless of the language. I know this seems like magic but trust me it works.

There is a flashlight (you Britz usually call it a torch). Don't let its small size deceive you; it's actually quite bright and will easily blind any person at close range and I mean blind them permanently. I picked this one up in the late 21st century and it's extraordinarily bright by 1800 standards and has an effectively unlimited power supply. The flashlight has multiple settings all the way from 5 lumens to 500,000. I know you know this being a smart man; but the typical lighthouse produces 100,000 lumens. Even at half power you should be able to illuminate things far enough away that the curvature of the Earth will be the limiting factor what you can see. You can literally use it to signal satellitesballoons that are in orbit in the Earth where there is no atmosphere. If you encounter another time traveler they are all proficient in 20th century English and know morse code; as well as ASL.

Also I have included a flare gun; if you fire the flare into the air I will be able to see it regardless of what time or place you use it. It is an interdimensional time beacon of sorts.

I have also included 3 pounds of gold coins and 1 pound of silver coins; never mind where they came from, golden silver spends anywhere anytime trust me there's a reason I know this.

Furthermore I have included vitamins because you never know what's in the food you eat. Also included is a small container that has water in it. It is actually a water condenser and it can literally make water out of the air. Finally I have included three stem packs; their healing capabilities are unparalleled and all you have to do is inject them. I picked them up from the 22nd century.

Finally I have used industrial strength epoxy to attach an immovable rod to the chassis of your Time Machine. The code to activate and deactivate the rod is this.

One One A; One One A Two B; One B Two B Three.

I know of your fondness for memorizing numerical codes so this should not be difficult for you. Once you engage the immovable rod no one will be able to move the Time Machine from its current location ever. Trust me.

Finally I have included a box of prophylactics, and some small flares.

I know how intelligent you are so I'm just going to assume that you're going to wear comfortable shoes and the appropriate outdoor adventuring attire.

Good luck Professor and I say to you this. A man is no fool who takes a friend with him on a long journey. Consider this before you leave by yourself.

Jack Kilroy was here. Sept 13th 1895.

WELLS TIME TRAVELS

In the year of our Lord 1895 At 04:30 in the morning local time, in the London suburb of Richmond; professor Wells woke up and began to stir; mainly because he couldn't sleep. He went to the workshop and began putting the final pieces of the Time Machine in place. There was a nut here a bolt there but the only pieces that were major; that still hadn't been installed where the master control levers. All of the other things that were remaining were purely cosmetic.

Professor Wells; as analytical as he was, suddenly was overcome with boyish curiosity; a trait that can be fatal to time travelers. It is also a trait that all time travelers have in abundance. Funny how that works. Professor Wells began to climb into the Time Machine. 'I won't go very far he said and besides I have a Time Machine I can always just turn around and come back.'

With that professor Wells looked down and saw his 1861 Colt Navy revolver in the custom holster that had been a gift from Jack sitting in the seat. 'I wonder why Jack would put that there?' he thought to himself. Professor Wells thought to himself 'I'll go to the future where people are obviously more peaceful and more evolved than they are today.' Now this thought that he had was consistent with the scientific thinking of the time. Also keep in mind that Professor Wells had no idea what was coming for World War I and World War II and the Cold War… You get the idea.

However Professor Wells decided that he would not discard the revolver but he wasn't about to wear it; that might give the wrong impression to anybody he meets. So Professor Wells attempted to stuff it under the seat; unfortunately there was something there. So for lack of anything better to do he just strapped on the gun. Fortunately it was a cross draw holster which was good for sitting down. Then professor Wells with his attention on his instrumentation panel sat down on the chair and installed the control levers.

'Here's where the fun begins' professor Wells thought to himself. Ever so slightly well pressed the control to go forward in time and apparently it worked. A rainbow of colors and a somewhat nauseating effect of vertigo came over Wells and he began to time travel into the future.

Professor Wells was so engrossed in the experience that he didn't realize he was sitting on time travel instructions written to him by an experienced time traveler. Funny how that works.

JACK WAKES UP

In the Year of Our Lord 1895. On September Friday the 13th Jack Kilroy woke up late in the morning from his slumber. He got up, bathed, groomed, dressed and left the room that he was renting from Professor Wells and went downstairs.

Jack had a sense of dread that came over him. He looked around and found his way to the workshop and saw that the Time Machine had gone. "S! #," he said simply. Much to his relief there were not alien spaceships in orbit, nor where there any Nazi flags flying over London, and civilization seem to be intact. "Well that's something," Jack said in a positive tone.

The next seven days were like waiting to see if any of your loved ones had survived the sinking of a cruise liner in the North Atlantic. Professor Tesla had locked himself in a room and refused to come out even to bathe. Sigmund Freud lit up cigars like a forest fire; and also spent a fair amount of time in the red light district. The young patent clerk could be seen at the coffee shop practically living on caffeine and nothing else; while he untied his shoelaces and proceeded to braid them in ways that only seem to make sense to him. He also occasionally got his hair and mustache involved apparently on purpose. Dr. Livingston volunteered at the clinic and insisted upon performing surgery on soldiers who had been wounded in battle.

Jack Kilroy on the other hand went to every coffee shop and pub in London. There he would order at least one bottle of wine and then stand up on a table and recite the entire speech from Hamlet 'to be or not to be'. This of course garnered some attention. The local authorities even came in and were convinced that Jack had gone completely insane. Sigmund Freud had to come to his rescue, "Oh don't mind Jack," said Sigmund, "He simply has a unique personality and way about him that works for him. However I would recommend that no one else try it."

The next Thursday came around quickly enough. The whole lot of us had assembled again at Professor Wells home; as agreed upon. However much to everyone's surprise professor Wells was not there. Jack Kilroy however did have a key; as he had been renting a room from Professor Wells and let everyone in.

"Where in the hell is professor Wells?" asked Sigmund Freud.

"I'm afraid he's late," responded Dr. Livingston. "Quite interesting for a man who travels through time."

Jack Kilroy cleared his throat, "Perhaps time travelers are notoriously late. As confounded as that might sound let us look at it this way; if you travel through time you begin to appreciate just how little time you have on this earth; if Professor Wells has indeed experienced this he may be trying to get everything he can done in as short a duration as possible and that has delayed him."

Everyone looked at Jack and then each other; but said nothing.

There was quite a bit of speculation about what happened to Professor Wells. Jack Kilroy was noticeably quiet about the whole subject. When asked Jack simply stated, "I have been out of town. I only returned this morning."

Be that as it may; all of us began to dig into the dinner; after all, it was no point in letting it go to waste. At that moment there was an enormous fireworks display that went up not far from the house.

"Good heavens," said Dr. Livingston. "How on Earth did someone get a fireworks display that big in the middle of the city?"

"We are the only ones who can see it," explain Jack Kilroy.

"What do you mean by that rubbish?" objected Sigmund Freud.

"Gentlemen I think I need to tell you something," said Jack Kilroy.

"You're a time traveler," said the young patent clerk.

"Indeed I am; Mr. Einstein," confessed Jack Kilroy. Professor Tesla chuckled, Dr. Livingston and Sigmund Freud looked at each other with a combination of perplexed and enlightened looks. "That fireworks display that you just saw; is a signal flare. Wherever Professor Wells has traveled it is intended for me to see. I'm not exactly sure how it works; I'm not much of a scientific guy; but what I can tell you is that the only people who can see it are the ones who are aware that the person who sent it has been time traveling."

"That is an awful lot to take on faith," replied Sigmund Freud. "But I believe you."

"I'm all in," said Professor Tesla.

"All in for what?" Sigmund Freud asked.

"We're obviously going to Mount a rescue," Dr. Livingston presumed.

"It sure looks that way," Jack Kilroy agreed.

"Well Jack; where should we start our rescue operations?" they all asked.