Banished to prehistoric times

Hope

Startled as they were, the rebels still managed to speak. "What..." Victoria said out of breath, not believing what she saw. "How is this possible?" "Who are you?" Jack added, wide-eyed. "And more important, how did you get here?" "Easy, kid," the man said, securing his weapon. He had short brown hair and dark eyes, and was above all very tall. The man seemed to be a few years older than the rebels and was very handsome, but a shallow cut ran down his face that probably symbolized an impressive story. "I'm Alec," he said. "the time restorer." "Time restorer?" Kathryn said, trying to get up. "You must be from 2124." "Wait," Alec said and frowned, "you don't know who I am?" The rebels looked at each other, not understanding how they could possibly now who he was. "You're here to rescue me right?" Alec continued. "Where's your ship?" "Our ship?" Victoria replied, amazed. "We don't have a ship!" "What?" Alec said with a surprised look on his face, "what do you mean you don't have a ship?" "We were banished here!" Jack exclaimed. "We're just as stuck here as you are, Alec," Kathryn said calmly. "Wait," Alec replied, "you're not here to save me?" Victoria shook her head, not quite understanding what was going on. "You've got to be kidding me," Alec said and laughed. "So how did you get here?" he then asked. "We're insurgents," Victoria answered, "the president gave up on rewriting history and we didn't agree with that so he banished us here." "President Percival Kane?" Alec responded, still startled. "Yeah," Jack replied. "That's him." "Why hasn't he come for me?" "Don't know," Jack replied and shrugged. "But how did you end up here?" Nathan asked while lending Kathryn a hand. "That's a story to tell while we're getting out of here," Alec replied and nodded at the Tyrannosaurus rex. "You don't want to be here when she wakes up."

"After time travel had been made possible," Alec said while cutting his way through the thick forest, "a group of time restorers, including me, was sent by the gouvernment to rewrite history and to find an answer to how to avoid the apocalypse. However, our ship broke down, and we stranded in a different time and place than expected. The Cretaceous era stretched out before us, and soon we were attacked by an enraged Tyrannosaurus rex." He noticed that Jack was looking at his cheek as he spoke, and nodded while touching his wound. "A sole survivor fled," he continued, "and retreated to the time ship which had previously been his conveyance to the horrific time he would now very much like to forsake. Although it had crashed in a place where it could be hidden very well, the time ship had been further damaged by a few curious velociraptors. Alas, the man who remained alive did not possess the abilities to repair it. Stranded in a period full of lethal dinosaurs, he awaited the time of his rescue which, unfortunately, never showed. "The sole survivor," Kathryn said. "That's you?" "Indeed," he responded and sighed. "I've heard about you," Jack said. "You were sent on a mission to restore time but never returned. That was two years ago." "Two years?" Alec replied, surprised. "It has been three months for me, kid." Victoria was unusually quiet after Alec's narration but broke that silence after Jack's remark, focusing her gaze on their new companion as her mouth opened. "Wait," she said while her eyes glistened. "My...my father was on that ship." "Your father?" Kathryn said, astonished. "You told me that he had died during an uprising." "Yeah, well," her friend replied gloomily, "he didn't. He was a time restorer, just like Alec." "I'm sorry, kid," he responded. "I was the only survivor." Victoria looked downhearted, for she had just lost all hope of seeing her father ever again. A tear rolled down her face while she whacked the green leaves of the colossal plants that were blocking her path, broken. However, she stayed strong, for that was what her father would have wanted. "What was his name?" Alec asked. "Maybe I knew him." "John Harvey," Victoria replied when she had regained her calm. Alec's mouth opened slightly when he heard the name of Victoria's father, and looked at the ground. His eyes grew large, closed his mouth, and looked at Victoria again with amazement. "Well?" Jack asked curiously. "Did you?" "I didn't really know him," Alec then finally said, "but I knew who he was. He..." Alec said and smiled, "he was a very special man." "Thanks," Victoria replied and sighed. Then Alec turned to Jack and said: "Why haven't they come to rescue me?" "You were all presumed dead," Jack replied, "and they had no idea where and when you were. They didn't want to waste time on something so unlikely, let alone the money." "But if you're here," Alec said, "then that means that time isn't restored yet. What happened?" "The world stopped trying to restore time after 2125, claiming it couldn't be changed," Victoria continued bitterly. "Time restorers don't exist anymore." "We," Kathryn added, "together with other insurgents, protested against the fact that the president had allowed that to happen, and so he banished us." "The bastard," Jack said. "So I'm still stuck here," Alec replied. "We all are," Nathan said. "That depends," Alec continued after realizing something. "I might not have possessed the skills to create my own redemption then, but now..." Victoria's eyes grew large. "Your time ship," she said, "can it be repaired?" "Yeah," Alec responded, "I think so, with a safe pair of hands." Jack immediately locked eyes with Nathan, who looked back. "You've always been the technician of the family," Jack said, "you think that you can fix this and bring us home?" The other companions looked at him too, understanding that there was still a possibility to get back. "Nathan, you can do that?" Kathryn said enthusiastically. "I can try," he answered. "But I first have to see what we're dealing with." The companions cheered in response, and hope finally returned to their hearts. "Come on," Alec said and smiled. "Follow me."

"I still don't get it," Victoria said as the companions travelled through the forest. "Why give up? There are endless opportunities. I'm telling you, it doesn't make sense." "Maybe the past really couldn't be changed," Alec said. "I don't believe that," Victoria replied. "Me neither," Jack said. "There is something else going on." "Perhaps he's afraid," Alec replied. "Afraid of what?" Kathryn asked while leaning on Nathan's shoulder. "Afraid of the consequences that changing time might have. Just think about it. Whenever you alter the past, those changes affect the present, and get compounded in the future, right? You step on one bug and suddenly the future isn't the same you remember." "Then you just have to be careful," Jack responded. "Or you just have to make sure that you don't have a reason to go back in time and change the past," Alec replied. "I mean, the apocalypse could have been avoided if humankind hadn't been so foolish." "He's right," Nathan said. "All of this wouldn't have happened if humankind had only looked beyond itself. We would have had normal lives." "But we can change all that now, right?" Kathryn said. "At least, if we can fix the ship." Alec glanced at her sidelong but then continued staring into the distance. "Sure," he said, fighting his way through the vegetation. "I need to ask you something, mate," Jack said and turned to Alec. "Fire away," he replied. "Where did you get that kick ass weapon?" He pointed at Alec's laser gun, safely secured in his holster. "Oh that," he responded and pulled it out. "It's a firearm specially made for time restorers. It shoots light pulses, and no bullets, so that if needed..." "...nothing will be left behind!" Nathan interrupted. "That's brilliant. You don't want to use bullets in a time where they haven't even been invented yet." "Exactly," Alec responded. "You're a smart kid Nathan," he continued. "I have hope that you will be able to repair the ship."