Across the Years

Chapter 7: Groovy

No One's POV

Lisa instead of going home, went straight to Bambam's lab. When she arrived she was drenched and covered in mud, but that hardly mattered to her. She was on a mission.

It was a Saturday and she wasn't due to work, so understandably Bambam was rather surprised as Lisa burst into the lab.

"Tell me." Lisa then pointed to the machine. "Does this thing actually work? I need to know. Can I go back in time?"

Bambam stood there, rather surprised by Lisa's sudden interest in the machine. The fact that she was dripping wet only added to his confusion. "Yes. I've run tests. It works. Why the sudden interest?"

Lisa wiped some rain from her forehead and sat down, a look of fierce determination on her face.. "Because he's an asshole. Because while he drank and slept with his mistress, Jennie died alone in misery and pain. No one there to hold her hand. No one was there to tell her how special and beautiful she was."

Now Bambam was confused. "I don't follow."

"It's simple. I'll be your guinea pig. I'll be your test subject for this machine. All I ask for is one thing in return. You have to let me go back and stop a wedding."

Bambam scratched his head. "When did this wedding take place?"

"1869"

Seeing the still confused look on his face, Lisa went back to the beginning and told the whole story. From the finding of the picture to the revelation that Jennie in fact had died in childbirth, Lisa told the tale. All the while Bambam listened carefully, one hand under his chin.

Upon finishing her story, Lisa stood up. She was still very upset and agitated. "I know you're going to lecture me about not changing the past and all that timeline bullshit. I don't care. Jennie was or is a wonderful beautiful woman and I can't live another day knowing that she ended up like she did. I have to save her."

Lisa fully expected him to say no. Instead he smiled. "I made this machine to benefit mankind and if God had not wanted me to develop this, he would simply stopped me. Had me hit by a bus or choked to death on a cashew nut. Let's do it."

Lisa looked to the machine and headed towards it. "Come on. I'm ready. Let's go."

Bambam gently stopped her. "Hold the phone. We can't just dump you in 1869. We need to see if it even properly works. A couple of test jumps. I know you're impatient but it's the wiser course."

Lisa lowered her head and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Let's face it, I'm probably a terrible candidate to be a time traveler."

Bambam vigorously shook his head. "No. In fact, you're perfect. That's why I hired you. You are majoring in theatre. You're taking a class in costume design. You can't just go there, even if you have the right clothes. You'd stick out like a sore thumb. You need to approach this like you would a part in a play. Make a character, come up with a background. Why are you in England for example? You need to prepare and learn how to do things in that day and age. Ride a horse for example. While we work on getting the machine perfected, you can develop your 1869 character. You're acting and theatre experience will greatly benefit you. So when you go, you will fit in and no one will suspect a thing."

Lisa laughed as she realized that Bambam was right. "Ok. I can take some time, prepare." That look of determination again reappeared on her face. "But I will save her."

"Good. One thing however. In time travel movies, the machine can go back and return at any time. This is a bit different. It opens a doorway between the times essentially and time will flow at the same rate in both times. You spend one day in 1869, you lose one day in 2014 and so on. For safety reasons, I won't shut the door completely while a subject is back in time. Instead I shrink the doorway to microscopic size. I'll give you a recall device. When you're ready to use the door again, you activate the recall device and I'll expand the door back up for you. Then I'll send the basket back down to retrieve you. Do you understand?"