lost in time

The Plunge

We were woken in the middle of the night. I was asleep in the bunk, with Violet in the bunk above me. Captain Collins shook me awake.

"Up, Sherman!" he hissed. "Now!"

I was awake almost immediately. "What's happened?"

"You'll see," he said tersely. He proceeded to wake Violet, and soon we were out of the living quarters and walking towards the Research Compound.

The Resurgence headquarters are located in the outskirts of the capital city of the Union, Eichque. We were camped at the base of a range of mountains, covered by dense forests. We call it The Arbor. Now, the only thing we hear from the trees is the music of the crickets.

We enter the building and climb up two flights of stairs. Violet frowns.

"Wait," she says. "Captain. This is where they are building the P-8."

"Not 'are building'," he replies. "Have built. They've finished it. And it opened."

"The Portal?" I ask. "When?"

"Yesterday, at 7 in the evening." He stops and turns behind to look at us. "Are you coming, or what?"

We follow him into the Chamber... and stare in awe. We had heard plenty about the project, and the number of times they've had to scratch it and rebuild it- in total, 8 times, hence P-8. But we had never seen it.

The Chamber is bathed in soft blue light when we enter. It is two storeys high, and is large- as large as our cafeteria, that can sit 200 people at once, very comfortably.

 There is a large circular structure somewhat in the middle of the room, the metal glowing a whitish silver, with stairs leading up to the platform. Several mechanisms hang from this structure, and I assume they control the conditions to create the Portal. There are several wires attached to these contraptions that rise up to the ceiling.

Many people in white coats pace around the room, looking anxious and restless. Some discuss with notes on a clipboard, while a few wearing protective clothing check the condition of the machine. At the far corner of the room, there are three rows of computers, occupied by a few people typing furiously, or talking to the head professor, Dr. Abraham Wichting himself. We walk over to them.

Jared is already there one of my closest friends. 

He smiles at us, and I force one back. I'm beginning to feel the apprehension.

"They're here," says Captain Collins.

Dr. Wichting turns. He is a lean man in his mid-40s', with thick brown hair laced with white. He looks tense right now, and I don't blame him.

"Where are the rest?" he demands.

"Here." Chang and Lucas appear behind us, escorted by another captain, who walks away after a short nod at the professor. He clears his throat.

"So, as you might have been told." His grey eyes watch our faces. "We have opened the Portal." He walks over to the large structure and points. "The platform is where it'll appear- the wormhole. It will stay for a short amount of time, and you should be gone by that time. We will give you the gear shortly." The doctor pauses. "I assume you have been briefed about your mission."

I try not to roll my eyes. It's what we've been preparing for, for an entire year, after we were selected from among the Survivors.

He goes on. "This is a precarious mission. We do not know what will happen after you alter the happenings of the 21st century. We don't know if we will cease to exist, of if you will live. Honestly, we don't know you will even make it to the proper year. It's risky. It's dangerous. But it's what you've been trained for.

"You will need to be fast, and careful. We do not know the behaviour of humans at that time, we know practically nothing. But Joan should help you." He tapped his own head. "She's equipped with everything. She'll be able to hack into any database. But, as you know, we will not be able to communicate. At least, I don't think so." The professor shrugs. "It's time you children got ready."

We're not children, I want to snap. We're 18. There's a difference.

20 minutes later, we are outfitted with the gear- black, durable clothing. We are given backpacks filled with the essential things- food, water, a weapon, other things- if we don't land in a city, or in a human dwelling. We are given a bag of medicines. "For the change in your surroundings," Dr. Wichting explains. "The composition of the air, and the water, the food, are all very different, from what we understand."

The room is cleared now. The people in the lab coats now converse with the computer analysts in hushed voices. Everything is buzzing with an excitement.

We walk to the silver structure. An artificial intelligence starts a countdown from the speakers.

"30, 29, 28..."

I look at Captain Collins. He gives a nod, as if to say, We know you can do it. I look back at the platform above us.

"20, 19, 18..."

The professor speaks above the AI's voice. "The future of a million lives rests in your hands," he calls out. "Those living now, and the uncountable people who died in the Great War." At the count of 5, the portal bursts open, like a tear in the atmosphere, and it grows into a hole circled by fast-moving purple rings. The room is suddenly plunged into a vortex of wind. "May the Old Gods safeguard you on your journey."

"3, 2, 1, now."

The six of us- Jared, Chang, Lucas, Violet and myself- burst into a run up the staircase, towards the hole. I am the last to go through. I feel a pang of worry, going to such an unfamiliar place. But I know it's the only place we can go, because there is little left for us here, and soon there will be nothing.

The last thing I hear before I jump is the professor shouting, "Farewell!"

And I plunge into the wormhole.