Time Camp Episode 1: Family Time (7 page)

“Here’s where we fill your heads with information before your trips,” said Kara. “If you are going close-time, we just brief you on the things that have just happened, and especially about the things that have not yet happened, so you don’t disclose information to people in the timeline. If you are headed further back, you’ll need cultural and maybe language training, so you will know how to behave and how to talk.”

Andy said, “Aww, do you mean we have to study?”

Kara laughed. “Well, we put most of it in your head for you, but you will have to practice some things out loud with us to make sure that your accents and mannerisms are close enough that you won’t be easily discovered as a traveler. Then we can let you go without risk that you’ll blow your cover. But your first couple of trips won’t require a lot of education.”

Laura replied, “Wow. You mean that you can fill my head with information? That I don’t have to read it all?”

Kara smiled and replied, “That’s right. In fact, once you have enhancements, you can request downloads of just about any material. Then, if we have enough material about an era, we’ll help you learn it. Maybe someday, you will be the pioneers in a new place or era, and get to bring back fresh recordings, and provide the clues that help us prepare others to work in that time. Maybe ancient Egypt or Colonial America!”

Liz asked, “So just how many families do you have that can observe in our eras?”

Kara replied, “Well, the number changes all of the time, and since we are out of time, we continue to recruit in your time and up and downtime from you. But believe me that we need many people from your time who can adapt and help us map out and explore your past. Since no one after Era 47 can go back, we need lots of recruits from the late 47
^th
like you, who understand technology but can fit into older cultures.”

“What happened after our era? You mention Era 50, but that means there are two eras between the tattoo people and us,” asked Laura.

Kara frowned. “You’ll learn more later, but I’ll tell you this. There was a huge world war after your era. It pretty much destroyed the planet and nearly wiped out the human race. That and the reconstruction after it took around 100 years. Once that was past, we eventually grew up as a species, and the era of joining and huge technological and cultural change took place, leading to the discovery of the time travel principles and the establishment of the Temporal Guild. But those of us from Era 47 are discouraged from going past our era. We’re free to move into the past as agents and observers, but the future is pretty much off limits.”

That bothered the kids, and the parents as well. “Aren’t we good enough to go into the future?” asked Jenna.

Kara said, “It’s not that. Era 48 is terribly dangerous for most people. There is no law, and the land is poisoned. Hundreds of future explorers lost their lives pushing back into that era from the future. Their first stable station was at the end of our era – right before the War, and there are no TimeStation portals in Era 48. Era 49 is very temporally sensitive, as we literally clawed back from barbarism to civilization and established a new, enlightened culture. So Era 50 is the first ‘clean’ timeline after ours, and the people there have a hard time dealing with us as we’re not joined like they are. A few 47’s have gone there, but more as historians or translators than as visitors. We just don’t fit in there.”

“Hmmph. Maybe someday we’ll change all that,” commented Laura.

“Moving on,” replied Kara, as she led the family across a connecting corridor to an area marked ‘Wardrobe’.

In this area, they saw many rooms labeled with different dates: ‘Era 47, 1960-1964’ and similar labels. Kara noted, “If you are going into the past, we keep the master costumes here so we can outfit you and work with you on the dressing and daily routines of the time. Your cowboy friends came here before they left, and learned how to dress and how to act in their time.”

“Will we get costumes when we travel?” asked Jenna.

Liz mentioned, “We did when we went to see the Berlin Wall come down. It was not a huge change for us, but my clothes in particular were too new for that time. We selected some items from 1989 and they duped them in our sizes and filled our suitcases for our trip.”

“Cool,” said Jenna. She was fascinated with clothing and fashion and this was right up her alley. She led a brief exploration of several rooms, taking great delight in the many items of clothing and other props found there. It was like a huge museum of culture and fashion!

After the wardrobe tour, they visited an immense area called ‘Recreation’. In it were gymnasiums, ball fields, gaming rooms, and pools. Laura, the most athletic of the family, was very interested in this area, as were all of the kids. “Do we get to play here?” she asked.

Kara replied, “Certainly. We use this area for two purposes. First, when you are here as Campers, you’ll need a place to relax after training and procedures. And second, if you are traveling to a time where sports or games are different, you may need to learn the rules and practice, so you may be pulled into events to help people and families get accustomed to sports and recreation over the timeline.”

“Wow. So we could play any sport from any time?” asked Andy.

“Pretty much,” replied Kara. “I’m sure we’ll be back here in a few days, so keep that as a reward for hard work.”

The tour continued. “Here’s Medical, and it’s about time for your appointments with Jade,” mentioned Kara, as they entered the medical suite. They went across to Jade’s suite and went in. She looked up from her desk and said, “Perfect timing. Let’s get started!”

Chapter 21: Medical

Each of the kids had a separate private meeting with Jade. She screened them and performed a thorough Era 50-enhanced biological screening on them. They all passed, and joined their parents in the large sitting room.

Jade began, “You are all healthy, which we pretty much knew. It’s time to start the enhancements. “

Laura interrupted, “So just what are these enhancements? Are they dangerous? Can you see them?”

Jade smiled. “As your parents can attest, they are perfectly safe, and you can turn them on and off at will. They are invisible from the outside, and in fact, your Era 47 medical capabilities can’t even detect them. They are biological in nature, but have some artificial components. They integrate with your brain and nervous system, and actually talk to your various body parts. They store information in your unused brain neurons. You only use about ten percent of your brain’s storage, so there’s lots of room for additional information!”

Jade continued, “From the scans we performed, we developed a custom formula for each of you. It takes about a year to grow and test them on virtual versions of you, but the results are excellent, and the development takes place out of time, so the delivery is immediate. See? Here they come!” A panel opened and three cups appeared with each of the kids’ names on them.

“You won’t feel a thing until we turn them on, but that will be a very strange experience for each of you. Do you want to be alone, or do you want to go through it together?”

Jenna, Andy and Laura looked at each other. “We’re a family” said Laura. “We do things together.” The others nodded.

“OK, I’ll warn you that you will be shouting into each others’ heads until you can control the enhancements, so you may want to apologize in advance. Just kidding!” said Jade.

They each picked up their cups of liquid and three tissues. The kids remembered their parents’ stories, and got the tissues ready. They swallowed the drink and promptly sneezed. Purple, purple, purple…all Good!

Jade said, “We’ll turn them on at the same time, and only us in this room will be in your circle. Remember, think the words ‘ENHANCEMENTS OFF’ to stop the sensations. Ready?”

The kids took a deep breath and nodded.

Immediately, they were flooded with information, overwhelming their vision, their hearing, even their sense of smell and taste.

“OhGodOhGodOhGod..ahhhhhhh!”, moaned Laura, as she struggled to take in the deluge of inputs. There were colors, numbers, signals, information and strange sensations all screaming for her attention. She felt as if she had fallen out of a raft in a whitewater river, and was being pushed downstream and held under water.

Andy and Jenna were in a similar state. Jenna was as stiff as a board, but her eyes were wild. Andy was shaking, wide-eyed, but didn’t see anything in front of him.

“Can’t you stop it?” cried Liz. She was afraid her children were being hurt.

Jade quickly replied, “They are in no danger. They will find the switch soon, and we’ll move on once they recover.”

*ENHANCEMENTS OFF!* thought Laura, and like turning off a light switch in a bright room, the sensations stopped. She caught her breath, looked around, and watched her younger twin siblings recover their senses as well and gain their composure.

Chapter 22: Adaptation

After they sat for a bit, Jade explained to them, “Your enhancements give you four distinct capabilities: TimeLine awareness, Biological control, Communications and Sensation Recording. “ The kids tried to keep up, but they were overwhelmed and still a bit freaked out from the initial blast.

“Over the next two weeks, we’ll work with you on your control of your enhancements. When you are done, you’ll have full control and access to an incredible range of capabilities. Being younger, you will catch on much faster than your parents,” said Jade.

“Hey! I thought we were pretty quick studies,” complained Tom with a grin. He and Liz were relieved that the kids had survived their enhancement and activation, and were along the path to controlling their new abilities.

“I’m going to disable your enhancements for the night, and allow you all to rest. First thing in the morning, we start the real Time Camp!” said Jade, giving them each a hug and pushing them to the door.

The family went down the hall, with Tom and Liz leading the way. “Where are we going?” asked Andy.

“We are headed to our new family suite for a good night’s rest!” replied Tom, rounding a corner.

“How do you know where it is…wait, the enhancements told you, right?” said Jenna. Tom and Liz nodded.

“Soon, you’ll have access to so much information, you will be amazed,” said Liz.

They approached a door labeled “Era 47 Watson Family”. It opened and they went inside. It was a beautiful suite with four separate bedrooms and baths, a huge common room, and eating area and a patio that overlooked a huge waterfall and mountain range in the distance.

“Is anyone hungry?” asked Tom. Everyone chimed in, “Yes!”.

Tom said, “I think I know what we all need.” He nodded to the door, as someone knocked. As it swung open, an young lady brought in a tray of steaming chicken wings, sodas, and a bottle of wine for the adults.

“Wings!” cried the twins, and they pounced on the tray and proceeded to eat as if they hadn’t been fed in days. They thoroughly enjoyed a huge portion of Buffalo style chicken wings, curly fries, sodas and other snacks, prepared just like the tavern down the street from their house. “How did you do that?” asked Laura, as their feeding frenzy subsided.

“Well, I know what we like, and I was able to conjure up some clear memories of the taste and smell and size and appearance of our favorite dinners. I interfaced with the food system and we had a chat. After it did some research and knew what we wanted, it sent the order far enough back in time that it was ready right after we got here. Pretty neat trick, huh?” Tom was proud of his small accomplishment to make the family feel at home.

“Well, it was the best meal I’ve had in the last 2 million years!” joked Jenna, and they all shared a laugh.

After dinner, they each found in their rooms, a perfectly comfortable set of pajamas and a ‘to launder’ slot. Heading to their own private showers, they found their clothes clean and folded when they returned.

“Where’s the TV?” asked Andy as they assembled in PJ’s in the common room.

“I think we can do better than that,” said Liz. She nodded, and the lights came down, and in the middle of the room, a perfectly reproduced 3-dimensional arena appeared, about 10 feet on each side, in perfect resolution. The crowd noise rose. Taking the stage was Rascal Flatts, one of the kids’ favorite bands.

“Oh my gosh, it’s like we are right there!” shrieked Laura. The kids watched and sang along as the band played hit after hit. The perspective shifted occasionally to magnify the 3-dimensional view on the singers and focus on individual performers.

At a pause in the performance, Jenna, through tears in her eyes, turned to her parents and said, “How? How did you do this?”

Tom and Liz smiled. The kids’ mother explained, “This is what we produce as observers in time. We capture memories, emotions and experiences of real events, and save them for all to enjoy and appreciate. This is not even the full capability of what we can capture with our eyes and ears and our hearts. Someone went to this concert with enhancements and captured it for the universe to enjoy forever. You may even know the observers who made this recording.”