light was blinking on the console. Fred turned the selector to 'operate'. Relays closed and lights started to pop on through out the cavernous barn. Clouds of dust and bitter memories swirled before him. "This time..." he told himself, "I'll no let them be taken".
It was just before midnight - not that it mattered much to Fred. He was too focused at the moment. His only goal was to get his family to safety. With hesitancy, he began to get everything ready. It had been quite some time since Fred had even thought about his secret in the barn. He stopped short, being drawn back to the present by a quick snap.
A wall of the barn raised on mechanical lifters to reveal a time-gate. "Test mode complete" a tinny voice from the computer stated. Fred stood at the console, dialing in a time bitter in his memory when "They" came. A shuffle of hooves behind him spun him round, and he looked into the eyes of Shi'ire, the herd stallion. "You go then", the studs voice in Fred's head more an accusation than question. "I have to," Fred rasped, "I promised them. WE promised them!" Shi'ire puffed hot breath in Fred's face, "Then I go too." Together they stepped toward the glowing square.
Traveling through time is easy. Traveling through space was not.
The two walked into the same massive barn from the opposite wall.
Part of the time 'jump' computations was to take the rotation of the earth, and figure out when the west wall would be just to the other side of the where the portal was on the east wall.
Fred followed Shi'ire into the vast open space. They've traveled back six months. They had four months to prepare for the coming disaster.
How easy could it be to stop what was going to come here? What had already happened in the time they had just left. It couldn't be as simple as making a new choice or to do one thing difrent, could it?
They knew that they had to try no matter the outcome. They knew it was not going to be easy. Messing with the fabric of time never was an easy thing to change. Time seemed to have a set path and trying to change it was like throwing small people's into a raging flood hoping to divert it's torrent.
Yet lives depended on them and what they had to do.
Fred breathed a in relief that they has made it without incident. One miscalculation and the two of them could have found them self in a wall or worse. He had seen people materlize with half there body's in brick walls only to die agonizing deaths.
Shi'ire nulled his back getting him to move. A quick lock at his companion told him that he had also made the trip with out incident.
"Well we are here," Fred stated stretching the jump always made him feel like he had been hit by a mac truck.
Shi'ire's ear twitched. He turned his head following a sound that Fred couldn't hear.
Shi'ire head butted Fred in the back making the man move with a grunt. Fred cut off a curse as he heard the same noise of approaching footsteps. In a scramble, Fred hide. He didn't wish to be seen yet much less by himself or more appropriately by his past self.
Hiding behind some old green sacks and alfalfa bales he lay low and flat on the hardpacked ground that made up this part of the barn floor.
Shi'ire wasn't so lucky. The stallion size made it impossible to hide. Too late, Fred realized his companions predicament.
A young teen rounded the corner and flinched in surprise.
"Shi? How did you get in here boy?" The boy slowly aproched the stallion. The stallions nostrils flared as the boy rested his hand on the stallions forehead and began to give the horse light scratchs.
Fred had to fight not to rush out of hiding. He had to fight back the tears and the sob building up in his troat.
Jim.
His son who had been killed so many months ago. Alive and standing before him now.
He had to force himself to stay hidden as Jim lead the stallion away. Then it dawned on him that the boy was leading Shi'ire to the stable where past Shi'ire was more then likely already bedded down for the night.
He had to stop that from happening. Seeing either of them with there past counter parts would lead to questions that he didn't wish to answer just yet. Slipping through a side door as quickly and quietly as he could he moved around the building to cut Jim off. he just hopped he didn't run into his past self.
