TSJ #36, Chapter 2: The Time Trigger

THE TRIP THROUGH the vortex took only a moment. When the initial feelings of discomfort had subsided, Tom Swift Jr. and Bud Barclay found themselves standing in a brightly-lit scientific laboratory. The room was filled with futuristic equipment, much of which was unfamiliar to them. One entire wall was taken up by a giant computer, and the rest of the room was littered with robotic components and fragments of half-built machines. Over to one corner was a set of leather furniture, where a blond-haired teenager was engrossed in a book. Tom immediately recognized him as Tom Swift IV, the inventor of the Negative Zone.

Bud was the first to speak. “I’m never going to get used to that,” he said uncertainly. “I feel like I lost some vital organs somewhere.”

Tom IV put his book down and stood up. “Believe me, guys, it’s a whole lot better than it used to be! You should have been there the first time I tried it. Not only did it trash my lab, but the trip nearly killed me. It actually knocked me unconscious.”

“I remember reading about that in the files you gave us,” Tom Swift Jr. remarked. “You ended up in a parallel universe and an evil ‘Thomas Swift’ appeared in your laboratory. It was quite an adventure.”

“This technology has come a long way since then,” Tom IV agreed. “But I’m sure you didn’t come here to discuss that. Here – have a seat! What’s on your mind?”

Tom and Bud sat down on an overstuffed leather couch, and Tom IV took a seat across from them. “How are Rick and Mandy?” Tom asked. “I was expecting them to be here this evening.”

“Oh, just fine,” Tom IV replied. “And it’s actually morning here, by the way – four in the morning, to be precise. I imagine Rick and Mandy are still in bed, like civilized people everywhere.”

Tom winced. “Sorry about that. I keep forgetting the time difference between our worlds.”

Tom IV nodded. “The really odd thing is that the time difference changes. It’s almost like time itself is flowing at different rates in our universes – or maybe it’s just a side-effect of the Negative Zone. I’ve looked into it but haven’t found any answers yet. But what brings you to this corner of the multiverse?”

Tom leaned forward. “I’ll get right to the point. I’d like to borrow your time trigger.”

Tom IV nodded. “That’s what I thought. I wondered how long it would take for you to ask for it. In fact, I’m kind of surprised it’s taken this long! I’m sure you instantly realized the possibilities the moment you found out about that invention.”

Tom nodded. “I would have been here sooner but I’ve had a lot of other things to take care of. The time trigger alone won’t save Irene, of course. I also needed a way to cure her of her radiation poisoning. I’ve finally got that squared away, though. All I need now is your time travel device.”

“You do realize that I don’t actually have a time machine anymore, right?” Tom IV asked. “You must know that the very last thing I ever did with it was go back in time and stop Reisenbach from ever inventing it. In this timeline the technology was never developed.”

Bud spoke up. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. If time travel was never developed then how did you find out that you had developed it? That’s never made sense to me.”

Tom IV smiled. “When I went back into the past to get iridium for my time warp detector I left a series of footprints behind. By pure bad luck those footprints fossilized and were eventually discovered. As you can imagine, the guy who dug them up was quite surprised!”

Bud laughed. “I’ll bet he was! He probably had no idea that dinosaurs wore sneakers.”

Tom IV nodded and then continued. “Anyway, the paleontologist – I think his name was Dr. DiGanda – asked us to examine the fossils to see if they were genuine. I took one look at them and realized the tread pattern looked exactly like the prints made by the SuperSoles shoes I had just purchased the day before. I checked it out and they did match – exactly! It was my size and everything.

“So, of course, we dismissed the fossil it as a ridiculous fraud. But then I started wondering. If it was a fraud then where did that fossil come from? Who made it, and why? What could possibly be the point of creating fossilized sneaker prints? So I decided to do a little investigating of my own.”

Tom’s eyes lit up. “You built a device that could look backwards in time!”

Tom IV nodded. “That’s exactly what I did. It was nothing like the time trigger, although I eventually found out it operated on a similar principle. Since nothing was actually being transported to the past, however, it didn’t damage the fabric of spacetime. Plus, you didn’t have to worry about someone going back and messing up the timestream.”

“I don’t remember hearing about this,” Bud remarked.

“That’s because I’ve never told anyone about it,” Tom IV said. “After I found out that the fossilized footprint was genuine, I kept looking and eventually discovered the whole story – including why I convinced Reisenbach to destroy time travel. I was afraid that if I let the world know about my chronoscope some bright person might find a way to adapt the principles behind it to build an actual time machine.”

“So the technology isn’t lost,” Tom replied. “It is possible to recover it.”

Tom IV nodded reluctantly. “In theory yes, it could be recovered. And I have no doubt that you’ve got what it takes. But Tom, as much as I’d like to help you here, this is one time when I have to say no. Whatever you do, you must not build a time machine.”

“I understand your concerns, but I really think the danger would be minimal at best,” Tom countered. “I only want to use it once and I’ll destroy it after that. Plus, there’s no danger of it being stolen by the Black Dragon. No one is going to try to use it to blow up the entire world.”

“That’s true,” Bud agreed. “Since the Black Cobra bought the farm and the Space Legion was defeated, the only real opponent you’ve got left are the hapless Brungarians, who barely have the intelligence to get out of bed in the morning. Things have actually been kind of quiet lately.”

“The point is that the technology itself is a bad idea,” Tom IV said. “Even if you set aside the enormous problems you get when you start messing with timelines, you’re still left with the fact that the mere act of traveling back in time has the potential to destroy the universe itself! As you well know, time travel tears apart the very structure of spacetime. The Black Dragon used it to cause a resonance cascade, where space itself began collapsing – destroying not only this planet, but time as well. The time trigger is the most insanely dangerous machine anybody has ever made and it should never be used again. I know how much you miss Irene but you cannot justify risking the lives of everyone in the entire universe just so you can have a chance to save the life of one person. It’s madness!”

Tom glanced at Bud, who shook his head. “Sorry, skipper, but I’m with him on this one. This isn’t a good idea – I’ve said that from the start. There are some places even you shouldn’t go.”

Tom sighed. “But look, guys, I can prove that it’s safe! We know it’s not going to destroy the universe because you have already traveled into my past, and yet we’re all still here.” Tom removed a photograph from his jacket and tossed it to Tom IV, who looked at it curiously. “Where did you get this picture?” Tom IV asked.

“It was taken by a security camera several years ago,” Tom replied. “It was taken on the day that I met Bud – which was also the day before Irene died. You can’t tell me that’s not you sitting in your TANC. That truck of yours is unmistakable! In my universe we don’t build monster trucks like that.”

“No, I don’t deny it,” Tom IV said slowly. “But I don’t understand! The Negative Zone didn’t even exist several years ago. Besides, I just made contact with you recently. We haven’t known each other that long and I definitely haven’t been time-traveling in your universe.”

“Exactly,” Tom replied. “But there’s more. I remember this event very well. On that day I was outside waiting on Irene to get something for me when you drove up. You asked me where Bud was and I said I didn’t know – I hadn’t met Bud yet and had no clue who you were talking about. You then told me that my Dad was waiting to see me. I went up to his office and found him there. I was surprised because my Dad was in New York at the time. The person I met in the office let it slip that he was my Dad from the future. As best I can tell, you brought me, Bud, my father, and yourself back to the day before Irene died. It must have been a rescue attempt. There’s just no other explanation.”

Tom IV looked at him, astonished. “Are you telling me that I introduced you to Bud?”

Tom nodded. “That’s exactly what happened. I’m sure I would have met him anyway, as we needed a hyperplane pilot that day and he was the only one around, but you short-circuited the process. This proves that time travel is safe – you did take us back in time and nothing bad happened.”

“There’s got to be some other explanation,” Tom IV said. “There is just no way I would ever agree to take you back in time. Maybe something else is going on here.”

“But look at the picture!” Tom insisted. “That is clearly you, in my past, sitting in TANC, which is your time machine. I didn’t build that monster truck – you did. And there you are, using it. This seems pretty straightforward to me.”

Tom IV handed the photograph back to Tom. “You’ve got me there, Tom. I really can’t argue with the evidence. I don’t understand it, but for now I’ll accept your interpretation of events. That being said, I’m still not going to do it. I’m not going to rebuild my time trigger, or install it on TANC, or go to your universe and rescue Irene. It’s far too dangerous.”

“This picture says you will,” Tom replied. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you are going to bring all of us back in time.”

“I don’t believe in fate,” Tom IV replied evenly. “I have a choice to make and I’m making it here and now. Time travel very nearly wiped out my entire universe. I’m not going to put yours in danger.”

“What if this was all about Mandy?” Tom asked quietly. “What if your girlfriend had died? Would you really resist the temptation to go back and save her? Would you just let it go when you knew you could do something about it?”

“I’m sorry, Tom,” Tom IV said sadly. “I really am. I know how much this means to you and I wish I could help you, but I just can’t. My answer is no.”