Chapter 1

​

Something was taking shape before Jaysan, from darkness the world around him turned into a kaleidoscope of colour swirling around him. Like water heading down a drain Jaysan could feel himself falling and spinning; his arms and legs outstretched instinctively assuming the position of a skydiver. Then it opened up, a hole that got bigger showing a field of grass. The noise was deafening now, it had gradually increased from a quiet whisper through a crescendo into a deafening scream. The hole was getting larger and the grass though distant was getting closer. As Jaysan approached the rim that joined this terrifying realm to the one below lightning could be seen arching around the swirling mess of light, it struck Jaysan several times,  burning and singeing as its feelers reached out caressing its victim while slowing his descent. Finally there came a pop followed by a thud. Jaysan had fallen through the hole; face first. The crack that had opened only moments before now closed in a blinding flash of light that could only just be sensed by his peripheri followed by a rumble like distant thunder. The dark clouds and cold breeze that remained soon gave way to clearer skies allowing the warmth of the midday sun to strike Jaysans back.
The man who fell to earth did not move choosing to stay still while his brain checked his senses. The fall was shock enough before he was comfortable that no bones were broken. The ground was wet from a recent downpour, soft and muddy in places. The man’s fingertips squeezed the turf, he was content that it had cushioned the fall; still for a man of seventy six years any kind of fall could have been fatal.

Jaysan had made it, bruised and battered but fundamentally all in one piece. He slowly turned around on the ground choosing to sit in the mud and damp grass while he contemplated the aches and bruises that would eventually surface. The cooling sensation had been just what was needed considering his clothes were ripped to shreds, blackened and smoking; he was lucky the fire had not taken hold but the burnt smouldered cloth filled his nostrils with a stench that would not easily be removed.

As he cast his grey matted hair from his face he looked to the sky and squinted at what was a wonderful sight, a sight he had not seen for many a year, the sun surrounded by a cloudless blue sky. The magnitude of it all finally got to him, his eyes filled with water and a tear inched its way down his cheek following the wrinkles like a river flowing through a valley. He cried and laughed in equal measure; silently mouthing a thank you to God for his deliverance.
With great effort and determination he managed to drag himself to his feet, old bones ached, not initially from the fall but from arthritis in his knees. Looking to the grass beneath him he could feel his dirty toes grasp at the texture causing him to rock back and forth on the spot. Then a sobering thought crossed his mind, he was here for one reason and one reason only; to save his world.

He bit his bottom lip and took a deep breath. With a determined posture he took his first steps towards his goal. As he walked through the damp grass he could see in the distance a stone wall with a large wooden gate fixed between two large stone pillars, the haze of the sun and the pollen particles floating in the air blurred his vision but he pursued the gate as if it was the final cucumber sandwich at the buffet table. Pain in his knees forced a grimace across his face that he tried to hide but every step was taken with the knowledge burning within his mind that he must not stop. Each step was a challenge but as he neared the gate it became a chore, a steady pace inched him closer. Those few meters from his landing to the gate seemed to take much longer than they actually did and with a final grasp his was ready to take the next step. His conviction was always with him and with that; he lunged towards his goal and clung to the wooden gate. A drowning man could not have grasped a piece of wood tighter.

He peered over the gate stepping on the bottom rung to get a better view and saw a winding road; looking left and right along the walls that followed the edge of the field this gate seemed like the only exit. It was locked with a vast chain and padlock still Jaysan grabbed it and shook it in the hope it would loosen its hold. As he looked both ways along the road, his feet still on the bottom rung of the gate he was puzzled by what he saw, this seemed like the right place he thought; but something was not – quite - right. He finally stepped off the gate and shook the chain a second time. A frown across his forehead emphasised the already wrinkled brow and stayed put as he tried to figure out what was out of sync. Questions entered his head but nothing of consequence came to mind, he only remembered the road and the town in the distance. The road to the right led to a small town called Crompton, Jaysan’s father was born there and lived in the town all his life, it was familiar yet somehow different and this nagging feeling was still with him. Jaysan cast his troubles to the back of his mind putting them down to age and confusion; cursing the vagaries of time that caused him to get old.

Jaysan struggled to climb over the gate; the chain wrapped around it was never going to allow an easy exit. He pressed on, climbed each rung and eased himself over. He started to walk along the path at the side of the road towards Crompton, his footing was unsure, climbing the gate had taken its toll and was more difficult to execute than to think about. Soon; control of the situation was with him and he started to walk only in shadows; the heat from the sun had made the path too hot for bare feet; still he could not avoid the baked tarmac for long. His feet were starting to burn so he sat at the edge of the road, ripped some strips from his tatty clothes and improvised some make shift protection for his feet. A faint breeze rustled the branches and leaves of the horse chestnut trees towering above him. The trees lined both sides of the road and bird song filled Jaysan’s ears, another experience to treasure; very few birds were left where Jaysan was from. Apart from the birds and rustling trees it was deathly quiet, not a soul was about.

He knew exactly where he wanted to be, home. He looked to the sun once more covering his eyes with his arm and guessed it was just after noon and his father would probably be in his garden workshop making wooden toys, cots and park benches. Jaysans father was a carpenter, only a handful still remained, carpentry had all but died out by 2260 but it was a skill his father was proud of. He could work from home, set his own hours and his craft allowed him time to spend with his family; a luxury most men would kill for if they had only known what was to happen in the following few years.

Jaysan loved his father. In his eyes he was the greatest man who had ever lived. Principled, strong, and honourable and now he was here to extinguish it all. Jaysan’s thoughts were conflicted, he could feel a smile grow across his face as he thought back all those years to happier times only to be replaced by worry and horror of what must become. The paradox existed and could not be allowed to continue. All these thoughts; good and bad filled Jaysan’s mind as he marched onwards towards town, Jaysan Sevens words echoed with every step, his determined stride had somehow numbed the pain of fifty years alone and many more years of planetary destruction. He knew what had to be done; he was here to save his world. It was a massive responsibility, one he was not sure he could fulfil.
Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. As he caught his breath he looked towards an old alehouse, it was across the road, framed by large trees. The Jubilee was one of those pubs that never changed, was always open and always had people sitting outside on a hot summer’s day. Not today however, it was deserted, the windows had metal screens erected and the entrance was braced. Jaysan crossed the road to take a closer look curious as to what had caused this great place to expire. Ivy was climbing up the east wall but not as much as he remembered. He stood there for a while in puzzlement at the little things that had caught his eye. As he spun around he noticed sign posts along the road that made no sense, the road was worn and had holes in it. Back across the road and in the distance stood hundreds of trees, trees that should not be there; flats and a monorail running over head should occupy the skyline. None of it made sense. He walked back to the road and started to progress his march to town still wondering what was going on, questioning his sanity and looking for answers in every step.

Finally in the distance civilization loomed. The heat had baked the road and a mirage had made it difficult to make out the people in the distance. The haze of rising heat from the surface made everything shimmer. As he got closer the people seemed to be staring at him. Here was a man in his seventies, wearing very little in the way of clothing, smouldering and dirty. It was to be expected that as soon as Jaysan tried to talk to anyone that they would run away as fast as they could.

A strange noise started to fill Jaysan’s ears, a noise that would break the serenity that surrounded him. The noise became a roar as it got closer, a roar that got louder and louder. Jaysan turned to look in the direction of the sound; it was in the distance along the road he had just walked, a hazy speck that started to get bigger, the heat made the image twitch in the sun. From the distance a machine all black and silver with someone sat upon it came into view and was heading straight for Jaysan. As it got nearer the sound got more intense and constant. Soon it was upon him, like the pounce of a Jackal. Screeching to a halt before him the large wheeled machine caused Jaysan to cower before it, cower was all he could do; he was too old to run. Any minute now it’s going to cut me down thought Jaysan. What was this, who was that sat upon it? The thoughts ran through Jaysans brain, a brain too old and slow to form any coherent words in the face of something Jaysan had only seen in musieums. Someone got off the machine, stood before Jaysan and started to remove their head.

Jaysan still in shock from his close encounter started to cringe at what he saw before him. As the head came off it actually revealed a dark haired, olive skinned woman, possibly from Eastern Europe and in her early thirties. The head she removed was some kind of helmet; she held it under her arm and shook her head to loosen her long jet black hair around her shoulders.

“My names Ruth, Ruth Alexander but you can call me Ruthless.” She said it with bravado and a wink of the eye, this woman oozed confidence; she said it as if she meant it. A large toothy smile, perfect in every way filled this woman’s face as she looked Jaysan up and down; she nodded her head obviously agreeing with her assumptions while she walked around him. Jaysan remained still only allowing his gaze to follow this woman while she circiled him. “I can see you’re a little surprised.” Continued Ruthless. She then started to jump about with excitement, little screams interspaced each word as she mumbled to herself, words Jaysan could not hear but to him it seemed like she was a bit mad, talking to herself, jumping around and he summerised walking on hot coals would have been a calmer experience.

She started to caress the machine, stroking it, patting it and finally turning off its idle purr. She noticed Jaysans surprise and look upon his face. It was a look that begged an explanation in its none committal glare. “This here is a motorcycle; it’s a great way to get from A to B. Your name is Jaysan Cort, your seventy six years old and have just travelled back in time… and now…” she paused and curled her bottom lip biting it in the process; her eyes squinted, “I can see this is going to take a lot of explaining.” She was right, it was going to take a lot more than simple platitudes to convince Jaysan she was here with his best interests at heart. Questions were becoming Jaysans only source of entertainment, who was she and how did she knew so much about him. Jaysan kept his thoughts and questions to himself, caution was going to allow him some control of the situation. She noticed the few people who had gathered nearby were watching and paying a little too much attention for Ruth’s comfort. The confidence she once projected was now replaced by nervousness evident by the dryness expressed in her croaky voice and the quiet whisper of her words “I think it best we get you out of here.”
Ruth pulled a second helmet from a storage box on the rear of the bike. She replaced her ‘head’, tucking her hair under it and handed the second one to Jaysan. “Here”

Jaysan looked at what she had given him but stood very still allowing only his eyes to track her every move. Ruthless flicked open her visor, “Put it on, we need to move.” Her words full of emphasis. She straddled the bike, started the engine once more and reved it a few times. By now Jaysan was wearing the helmet but was unconvinced this was the right course of action; it didn’t quite fit and seemed to wobble on his head. No amount of adjustment could make it feel comfortable and his constant messing with it seemed to make it fit even less. “Climb on the back.” Ruthless beckoned waving her hand jesturing for Jaysan to join her. Jaysan obliged and with aching bones became resigned to the fact his head must be a little on the small size. “Hang on.”

Jaysan had climbed behind Ruth and looked for something to hang on to. Ruths visor was drawn down across her face and she glanced at Jaysan in her rear view mirror. Speed now became the only emotion, as the brakes had been held engaged it caused the bike to spin like a child’s toy, plumes of smoke filled the air around them and with a jolt of power off they went down the road deeper into Crompton. Hanging on became Jaysans only mission as he now grabbed for anything within reach.

As they came to a sharp bend something caught Jaysan’s eye, Ruthless had slowed down to take the bend safely but that was the only reason for doing so, whatever had grabbed Jaysan’s gaze was for him alone. He was not sure what it was, more of a feeling, a feeling of being watched. He shook it from his mind, especially as the bike set off along a long straight at speed and he had to hold on once more for dear life for fear of falling off.

As he settled into the journey Jaysan cast his mind back to what had happened. He was clearly not when he was supposed to be, everything pointed to an earlier time, the lack of people, the missing buildings and the pub closed. The final piece of the wrong time puzzle was the bike. He had never seen one on the road but still he could not quite understand what was taking place. He knew he was supposed to be here and that his target must be close, after all this was a town he remembered from his youth. He realised why everything looked so strange, he had travelled further into the past than what was planned and that bike was the final piece of the puzzle.

Was it a malfunction? Had the machine been built to the correct specification? Had he typed the correct details into the chair? All these questions filled his mind as the bike gripped the road; the fear of imminent death was forcing him to cling on tighter. It was too late to change anything now and so holding on was all that remained.
Ruthless clearly enjoyed the adrenaline rush but as Jaysan’s grasp around her waist tightened she understood her fix was not to everyone’s taste. She slacked off the pace a bit as the bends in the road leading out the other side of Crompton came upon her. A few hundred yards further down the winding road a large house could be seen behind the tall trees that lined each side, Gothic in style and imposing. As they turned left into the driveway; Jaysan looked over his shoulder to see a large metal gate automatically close behind them. Security cameras could be seen lining the drive high on steel poles, more than you would think were necessary for a simple house in the country. Soon the bike stopped with a slight kick of the rear wheel, just enough to remind Jaysan he was still alive and Ruthless turned off the engine. She jumped off and removed her ‘head’ again knocking Jaysan from the pillion seat onto his arse behind the bike mixing with the dust from the sudden stop. He landed on the white limestone’s that had made up the whole of the drive and they made a crackling sound that under his feet would have been more satisfying than the added bruises his behind now supported. Ruthless was mortified and ran over to help Jaysan to his feet casting her helmet to the ground, “I am so... sorry, when I get on the bike I lose myself.”

“No worries’, falling off a motorcycle is nothing compared to falling out of the sky, but I guess you know more about me than I know about myself.” Jaysan dusted off his clothes; those rags he had as an excuse for fashion, but then realised there was not much point in trying to look presentable.

She bounced up the short flight of steps into the arms of a tall slender man who was waiting for her in the doorway between two pillars of stone. He was about twice her age, had a head of silver hair and a well kept goatee. She kissed him on the cheek stretching on tip toes to reach him while he leaned down to assist her in her task, a content smile appeared on the man’s face. She proceeded to jump around on the spot as if she was a teenager full of boy band exuberance and turned to face Jaysan.