Elevators Through Time - Book 1

Part 10: Kurt Cataloguing

Part 10: Kurt Cataloguing

Year: 2029

Time: 10:07am

Location: Photographical section, National Historical Meuseum, New York, America

Level: Level 2

Back in my era, a friend of mine, Kurt Weissman, worked in a museum and he would check the dates and carbon dating stamps of items in the archives and on display.

Due to the development of the Quantum Query gates his job got a lot busier and a lot more profitable.

He was now responsible for travelling back through time to check that certain manuscripts, artifacts and other items were of genuine origin.

He along with a small expedition team would also take various samples to send to the various research labs to record various extremely detailed environmental statistics through the various ages. The variances varied but every single one was important in checking the standard and thermodynamic progression of everything.

It was just a casual day for one of his team to be checking the archives for making sure everything was accounted for.

Alan was looking through the photographically department and something caught his eye. Alan had a photographic memory and was hired for that quality as well as for his being a perfectionist.

It was this fact that made him notice something.

A certain figure in a thumbnail on a really antique photograph.

Alan carefully opened the chrono-sealed box and uncovered the photographic slide from layers of careful packaging.

He examined the faces on the photo for a while then noticed a curious staff in a sling on the back of a man holding a young woman in classic romantic embrace with a white bird landing on his shoulder.

"Hey Kurt! Take a look at this!" Alan yelled to his teammate Kurt.

"Whatcha got for me there?"

"Have we got any information on what this stick is on the back of this guy?"

"Where did you find this photo slide?"

"Just in the replica plate photos of the 1900s that were taken around the Flatiron Building in New York."

Kurt narrows his gaze at the staff for a moment and then grinned to himself.

"I haven't seen this man before but I have a feeling I know who he is. Let's look closer." Alan took the photo slide and placed it under an image enhancing device on a table and looked up to a large screen nearby and slid the slide across the surface of the table to look over the image.

"I know that walking sticks and canes were popular in this era...it says here 1909, but this one just caught my attention," Alan said, gesturing in a vaguely Italian way.

"I know only one person who has ever used a staff like this and it's a janitor I used to see hanging around Dr. Alexander R. Julian. The doctor left some time ago. I asked him to say 'hi to Mr Otis for me'. I seem to recall the janitor giving him the staff. Apparently it was a gift from Dr. A.R. Julian but he gave it back for practical use in the doctor's journey."

"What are those streak patterns? Is-is that Rolinium?" Alan said zooming into the photo to where the staff was clear.

"Ah I know it is the doctor, because he has his initials near the top of the staff, look!"

Kurt said, pointing to some letters near the top of the staff.

The letters "ARJ" were printed by lasers at the very top of the wrist grip and written vertically.

"I remember that Dr. Julian had been working on that thing for a really long time even a few years before he returned with the Gyro-linium device. He was always known for having a backup plan in store. I wonder what kinds of things he has in that staff, if it even is 'just a pole of wood'," Kurt leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes and grinned to himself.

Kurt smiled, realising that Alan was rather proud of Alexander R. Julian for being that way.

For a second he closed his eyes, thinking ahead, then his mind went to a place it shouldn't have, but he was later glad it did.

"Hey Kurt! We've got a big problem!"

"What is it?"

"You said that Dr. Julian had to leave this time because he was 'in fear for his life', right? Well, if we could stumble across this photo and find out this was him...who else could?!"

Kurt straightened up, his eyes wide with fear.

He then looked back to the photo of the doctor in the classic pose with the young woman.

"May God help you and your associate, Dr Julian."

"Should we ask for some help? Maybe send someone to guard them? Ah- but that'll draw attention to that section of the time stream."

"Even if we send in a covert team, the fluctuation in the time stream can easily be detected by a others who have the equipment to track essences of people through time. That's how our police work these days. To save themselves all the work of DNA and 'proof of intent' they use the latest teams of what they call 'Time Tracker Squads' whose systems can track every single entity through milleniums of time to find out individuals or groups who have committed a crime and stop them before it happens."

"Isn't there are problem with a paradox or some crack in time happening?"

"Don't worry. That's what the Quenesians had figured out and have kept out timeline stable and whole. But there is no way we are sending someone through...at least not officially..." Kurt said, his voice trailing off.

Alan looked at him quizzically for a few minutes then asked,

"Do you have some way of at least helping them even a little for a moment? Just to tell them that someone could be on their case?"

Kurt rubbed his chin.

"I know some people who can watch over them...and step in if necessary,"

"Who? They've got to be ninjas if they can slip through time without-"

Kurt laughed. "If you send in time-ninjas, they would still be problematic, but for this... I'll see what I can do. Don't worry, Alan," he said, looking confidant, "The Jed Pillar will come to watch over them,"

"Who?" Alan asked.

Kurt leaned back on his chair and grinned while his eyes were closed.