Chapter 1
Back then when it was only dinosaurs who ruled Earth, along came a giant meteorite crash. Everything burned, smoke was everywhere and lot of dinosaurs died. Only small insects and tiny fishes survived to this apocalypse. That’s how it’s supposed to be, right? Only a stupid guy like me would decide to return to their era and save the dinosaurs. Consequences? Earth will never be the same.
My name is Jefferson, and I am only 20 years old. I’m studying quantum physics in the MIT University. And yes, I live in Manhattan. Right now I will be talking about a big period in my life, so listen carefully.
I started my second class about quantum physics this week. Our teacher, Michael, is a total bragger in our school. Imagine that. ‘And I was the champion of the Chinese writing contest and blablabla… oh, and there’s also blablabla…’.
That day, he didn’t seemed very happy. None of his boring stories were told. Perfect.
Instead, he was talking about the possibility of time travelling, and that he was the one who travelled (We are in year 2099) in time. I don’t believe him, nor anybody. Just another his not-funny-at-all stories about his achievements. But when he was talking about that, his face seemed so serious.
Talking about that, he always has that idiot-looking smile on his face when he’s telling his stories. He continued the class by showing us how to teleport an atom. Each person was paired with another (I was paired with Li, what a chance! He’s my best friend) and we did the same thing as the teacher. Li and I were the only ones who got an A on the project.
On my way home, I could not help thinking about what he said: ‘I already travelled in time! That’s why we have tomatoes today.’ I just don’t believe it. Not even anyone in the news media would. Only a crazy science fellow could trust him. And I’m not ready to be that guy. Even if I always get 100s at school, I never feel that I am good at science.
It turned out I was wrong. In an old article about time-travelling (which, at that time, nobody cares), Professor Edward said that ‘time-travelling is possible, but we don’t have that technology today.’ That was written is year 2016. I think now we have enough advanced technology to do it. So I started spending my free time on analyzing how to build a time machine.
Next day of school: PE class in the first period. We played handball. There was a major accident that day: a cumsy guy threw the ball so hard that it broke a window. When it happened, I was talking to the teacher, so I couldn’t see “the ball in action”. Some girls screamed, while the guys were just staring at the big hole in the window and laughing. The PE teacher didn’t even notice it. But Michael did. He was standing outside when the ball broke through the window and landed on his head. After a few seconds, he entered the gym and screamed: ‘Who did this?!’ A small trembling hand raised in the air. ‘Well, what a nice shot. C’mon, I’ll give you a popsicle.’ And then he exited the class.
- Did you see that (Said Li on our way to our class)? That guy who broke the window is really lucky. He even got a Popsicle as a reward! I can’t believe it!
- I know, (I said) I’m sure the director will intervene.
- He’s not here this week.
- Gone where?
- Florida
- Does he know that there is a mortal virus there?
- I don’t know.
- I think he just doesn’t care.
- Imagine this in the news: A guy went to Florida to take a shower. It’ll be hilarious.
So, we had quantum physics (again!) with Michael. Everybody was whispering about the guy-broke-a-window-in-the-gym incident. ‘Everybody, silence! Today I will present you my time travelling machine.’
He went to his office, and after 10 minutes, drove (yes, drove!) a machine to the center of the room.
- This, everyone, is the biggest breakthrough in science! I’m not bragging. As you can see, my machine is pink, which is my favorite color (chuckles). It has a big antenna on top (Wowwww…) and the inside is the control panel. Thank you. That was for today’s class.
That’s it??? But I didn’t even realize that one hour had passed. Was he using his machine to…? I have to find out. So, guess what the stupid idea was that came to my mind? Steal the machine.
First, I went to ask him:
- What is your address, Michael?
- Oh, ok. 1111 Avenue Fourone and my postal code is H1H 1H1. My house is the latest model of the One’s series, so it’ll be easy to find it because it’s shaped as a one.
- You’re joking, right? I said.
- Yeah, ok… My REAL address is 4839 Avenue Finder and my postal code is G4J K2N.
- Thank you for the information.
That night, I was planning to steal something for the first time (even if it’s illegal!). I got my flashlight, my thin metal piece, my chain of keys collected on the ground and many other things. I drove my car to park beside the restaurant near his house. I descended the hill, and there was his house. Old, crooked, it didn’t even look like something modern. I cracked open the back door of the house, used my thin piece of metal to hack in a chain lock. It was easy. Why?
When I got in a closet, there was the secret, reinforced metal door. With a diamond lock. No kidding. How can someone who lives in an old and zonked out place afford a diamond lock like this? No time for this. I tried using my “lock breaking” bag, but nothing worked. Can it be a fingerprint lock? I put my finger on it. It says: unauthorized. So, I took a hammer and smashed it. Remember, an iron pickaxe can easily crack a diamond piece, but nothing except diamond itself can make a scratch out of it. It broke open. A long and dark passageway stood below my feet. I took my flashlight, and plunged into darkness.
At the end of the “hallway”, I discovered another door. And, guess what? Li stood behind me. That scared me so much that my heart stopped for a second.
- What are you doing here? (We said at the same time)
- I’m trying to steal Michael’s time machine, (I said)
- Oh yeah? I have good news and bad news.
- Start with the bad one.
- Michael is at home.
- And the good news?
- I’ll be helping you and I brought some Nestea.
- Now, can you please close the metal door?
We waited until Michael went to sleep. Then we started working on that door. It turned out it wasn’t even locked. Something was wrong…
I opened the door carefully, and then… I found the machine! Pklang. Something fell. My encyclopedia on quantum physics! Oh, the irony. We heard Michael rush down to the secret door…
- Quick! Get in the machine!
- Ok, coming!
I closed the door, quickly pressed a button. I hear Michael’s voice:
- Noooooooooooo! Look at the destination date!!!!
Destination: Cretaceous Era – 1 January – 6:00 AM
Wait a minute. Am I seeing it right, dear readers? Cretaceous Era – 1 January – 6:00 AM? Seriously? That was what I was thinking when blue flashes came from the sky. The machine turned, and heated up. Then everything stopped. I smelled a strange odor. I saw my friend Li lying on the chair.
- Hey, wake up!
Nothing. Not even a heartbeat. What is going on in this world? I had to do the CPR. Difficult. After some minutes, he came back to life! I was SO proud of myself.
- Hey, what happened? I ask.
- I think I fainted or something like that during the travel.
- Can you run a 500 meters race right now?
- What? We have to do it?
- Just to know if you are in shape.
I peeked through the tiny window of the time travelling-machine. No, the microscopic window. Way too small. I couldn’t see anything. Except, the orange sky. Yes, I’ve seen it in front of my eyes. An orange sky.
- Jeff, I think we are in the cretaceous era. Are you sure I’m not crazy?
- No, because you are absolutely right. We travelled back in time to this era. See it for yourself.
I pointed at the control panel, where we could see the date. After Li read it for the… 20th time? He just froze there for a long minute. Then said:
- How can we get back?
I typed in a few keywords on the screen. After, a popup told us: ’12 carats of liquid diamond needed. You can find it near here in a cave.’
- In a cave? (I exclaimed)
- Well, because I’m a genius in history, they say that there was lava practically everywhere, and that to obtain liquid diamond the lava has to engulf the piece of diamond for 1 hour to melt it. So, we have a chance.
- Ok, let’s do it!
We went to the door. I opened it slowly. A tree stood before us. I should add enormous. It was at least 10 story high. We walked around it, and started searching for a cave.
After a long hour of research, we didn’t even separate ourselves from the machine to about 500 m, afraid of losing it. Then, we went back to search for more equipments. Guess what, we were really lucky! We found a GPS that indicated the machine’s placement; a first aid kit; a flashlight; a pickaxe; 2 triple barrel shotguns; a bucket; more jackets and 2 backpacks with all for the explorer’s need. As we were ready to go, the sky was darker, and we could hear howling outside. I switched the machine to invisibility mode (what a chance!) and tried to find a place to sleep.
Next morning: the alarm rang so loud that we were wide awake immediately. That gave us a head start of about 400 m. We found a cave! But it was really hot there. We took our buckets, went to the river stream just 5 meters far, and filled the bucket and emptied it in the cave. We did that for 30 minutes. The cave seemed cooler. We went in, and found some liquid diamond. Really hot. We filled our buckets again and emptied it onto the diamond. It solidified in just a matter of seconds. Then I put it in my backpack.
- Whew! I wish that’s the only thing we need to get back home. Let’s go! Li said.
Yes, dear readers. You would probably think nothing happened. But hey, the story hasn’t ended yet! So, clench your jaw or whatever and flip the page.
On our way back, we were talking about books.
- What’s your favorite book? I said.
- Targets, said Li.
- Oh yeah, that book.
- So, what’s –
We were interrupted when a giant comet came howling down and crashed on a dinosaur. Poor dinosaur. Dead. Oh, ok. No need to think about that. This is the reason why dinosaurs have been extinct. Then, I saw a little dinosaur trembling alone in a small cave.
- Go! Rescue him!
We went there, and took him away just in time before another meteorite crashed.
- Go! To the machine!
We got there and then left the dinosaur in a small, solid and deep cave.
- Stay here, little, and don’t move! I said.
Li and I went into the machine, typed the present time, and whoosh, we were back, without knowing there was a big surprise waiting for us.
(Photo credit: http://www.educatinghumanity.com/2012/02/time-traveltop-ten-people-who-time.html)