Sorry for the delays, hopefully the next two parts will be out a timely fashion. (not the same pace as CarolM, though...)
Here is the first part so that you can catch up, if necessary.
Love is in the Err – Part 2
By Mr_D8a The First Err
Tempus moved back and forth in his cell. He couldn't believe that Herb had left him in 1866; in the state asylum for the insane no less. Somehow the irony of the situation escaped him.
It had been several months and he had finally convinced the 'corn-sucking, hayseed, cow-lovers' to give him a journal to put his thoughts down. If he couldn't get rid of Superman as a baby, he was going to write down everything he knew about Superman so that if he died in this time he would have left behind a record that someone might find and use against the Man of Brawn.
He decided to change his behavior and start acting sane enough that the locals would trust him and let him go. The journal was 'therapy' or whatever they called it in this time. When he got out he was going to kill the ancestors of Jonathan Kent so that at least Martha and Jonathan wouldn't be there when baby Clark arrived. Surely that would make some difference.
It wasn't like he was going to be building a time machine himself. He just didn't understand the mechanics of the thing. He would just have to make the best of this and screw up the future as much as he could.
~*~
Somewhen in the future.
The mirrored finish of the Temporal Development & Detainment Facility would make it stick out if it were surrounded by other buildings. It was actually in an isolated area that had been untouched by man for several millennia and was geologically stable, temporally speaking. It was a rather large building. It was a one story structure that was intentionally designed to look like an infinity sign that was solid on both ends. It was uniformly four meters tall, two hundred meters at its widest and one hundred meters at its narrowest. The center points of each loop were for detainment. The majority of the building was for the research and development of various temporal technologies. The core of the infinity sign was the administrative offices. The whole building was singularly isolated from its surroundings, below and above, by redundant force fields. The strictest Genetic Pattern Recognition Protocols were required prior to gaining admittance to each entry point. It was temporally shielded as well. No one could get in or out without good reason.
Near the center of the administrative section was the office of one Senior Peacekeeper. It was a modest room with a combination food and beverage dispenser, a private personal hygiene cubicle, an assortment of comfortable chairs and a rather large sky light asymmetrically placed on one end of the room over a stoically decorated desk. The Senior Peacekeeper sat at her desk, basking in the sunlight. Her high cheek bones offset her reddish brown hair which, although it was arranged in a pony tail, still managed to reach down to the middle of her back. She wore a hunter green jumper, with gold highlights, that didn't quite accentuate her shapely features, but didn't hide them either. The symbol of her House was worn as a clasp upon her left shoulder. Her lips were puckered, like she was going to blow a kiss, but the object of her supposed affections was indifferent to her actions and refused to budge. Concentration creased her smooth forehead. Still nothing. Finally she sat back and sighed.
Shaking her head slowly, she mused aloud. "I am a daughter of the House second only to the Royal House of El, trained from childhood to use my abilities for the betterment of all Kryptonians and Terrans. I am a purebred Kryptonian Alpha. Stronger and faster than even the original 'Superman' - his lordship, Kal-El…’ she briefly bowed her head, ”…may his lineage reign forever. My senses more keen, my abilities second only to a few. And yet…"
She paused in her monologue to deftly pick up the object of her attention. It was a sphere, about two inches in diameter. Its near frictionless surface was covered in little vents designed to capture any air currents, yet heavy enough to resist movement. It was an educational toy for those of the populace that had inherited the meta-human or 'power' gene from their parents, specifically the one that controlled the telekinetically enhanced 'super-breath' power. With it they honed their ability to manipulate air to their will.
Her sphere had mocked her in its stillness.
"And yet, I lack that one ability that would have put me in the elite of our world protectors. I can barely blow out candle, let alone a forest fire. Only those that have all the meta-abilities shown by the original ‘Superman’ can be part of that most sought after group. However…" She picked up the source of her torment and gently, seemingly, rolled it between her hands. The sound of squealing metal started to emanate from the sphere as it was slowly crushed between her hands. "…If it had not been for that lack of ability, I wouldn't have been given the even more dangerous job of protecting the timeline.” She finally sighed and gained a ruthful smile. "I suppose mother was right and I should be content with what I can do and not what I can't."
Warning sirens went off. The screaming ball of metal shot from her hand as the computer blared its warning. The ball dented the wall on the far-side of her room.
"CODE VIOLET! UNSCHEDULED TEMPORAL WINDOW OPENING!! CODE VIOLET! UNSCHEDULED TEMPORAL WINDOW OPENING!! CODE VIOLET!…"
In a flash, she was at her monitors. As she read the information, she indulged herself by fiddling with the five-sided family crest on her upper right shoulder. She particularly liked this rendering of the crest. It was done in gold and royal purple. The symbol was symmetrically balanced. But most people didn't notice that at first glance. What most Terrans saw was a stylized representation of three orchids, one pointing up and the other two off to each side at a forty-five degree angle. What more educated people knew was that the 'orchids' were actually the background color. It was the five golden pieces that were actually the symbol of her House. The House of Nor.
Lady Jela-Nor, great-granddaughter of the infamous Lord Rad-Nor, forced herself to put her hands down. None of the Junior Peacekeepers would ever accuse her of being the nervous type. They wouldn't dare.
After careful examination of the data, it was determined that the time traveler, H. G. Wells, had finally come back to the future, some ten years after he had first arrived. And he had taken someone back with him.
According to the population net, one Templar Lane Lacus was missing from one of the homes for the mentally unstable.
Templar had had a fixation on the supermen that protected the world ever since his brother had died from a fall in a remote area. Even with so many, not every accident could be prevented. It unhinged Templar and he had decided that the world was too boring with meta-beings around. He had succeeded in killing a handful of Kryptonians and meta-humans before being arrested. He had been imprisoned since.
The next warning shook Jela-Nor out of her musings.
"BLUE LEVEL RIPPLE IS HEADING UPTIME! A BLUE LEVEL RIPPLE IS HEADING UPTIME!"
Never before had time experienced a Blue level ripple. Blue was reserved for near-disastrous level changes, like threats to the House of El. Lady Jela-Nor calmly reached over and activated her PTS (Personal Temporal Stabilizer).
Minutes later, she watched as the entire building disappeared, leaving roughly one hundred individuals standing in the middle of the empty field.
What had H.G. Wells done?
~*~
Ten years earlier, H. G. Wells had come to the future and found what he called "Utopia.' The Peace Keepers of that time were able to convince Mr. Wells to allow their scientists to examine his machine. The methodology was so simple that it amazed them that no one else had stumbled upon it.
Mr. Wells was thrilled to show off his device and so had no problem with demonstrating it for them. After several such 'demonstrations' they allowed him on his way and then set about creating their own temporal devices.
When H.G. Wells arrived back in his own time, he found a shapely and scantily clad, by his standards, Peace Keeper waiting for him, in Wells' favorite smoking chair. There were things about the future he appreciated, the clothing styles were one of them.
Mr. Wells was astounded. "I say, how did…?"
The woman had worn a hunter green outfit with silver highlights. She had reddish hair and addressed him from a seated position. She held out a small device about two inches cubed. "Mr. Wells, I am Senior Peace Keeper, Lady Jela-Nor. I come from some ten years uptime from the time you showed us your device. We've made some improvements."
Mr. Wells reached out to touch the device, but his visitor withdrew her hand. "I have a mission that I must carry out. I will ask you one question. How you answer it will determine my…next course of action. Will you help us find Tempus?"
She knew that the criminal’s real name was Templar, but since Wells only knew him by the alias, Tempus, she felt there was no need to confuse the ancient author.
The eighteen-century man regarded the 'lady' carefully. "Will you answer a question of mine, regardless of my answer?"
A sigh escaped the ruby red lips of the lady time-traveler. "Yes."
"I have your word as a lady?"
The look that passed over the traveler's face betrayed her annoyance. "Be careful, little man. You are close to insulting a pure-born Kryptonian Alpha of the House of Nor."
The little Englishman gave a brief nod. "I take that as a yes." He then turned from Jela-Nor and pondered his choices. After several seconds he had his answer. "Yes, I will help you find Tempus."
A look of almost-relief descended on the Peace Keeper's brow. "And your question?"
"What if I had said no?"
The Kryptonian Alpha looked astounded, "
That was your question?"
A grin spread across Mr. Wells' face. "Quite."
The Senior Peace Keeper's face went through several expressions before settling on subtle annoyance. "I would have dismantled your time machine, destroyed all your notes, strip-searched your mind for all information regarding Tempus, and then wiped your mind of all traces of your time-traveling activities.
"Since you agreed, I will update your machine to use the electromagnetic aura of the planet instead of gold for fuel. I will extend to you the rights and privileges of a 'junior-grade' Peace Keeper, special class, and I will impatiently wait for you to tell me what you did with Tempus."
As the woman from the future quietly listed off her 'mission' parameters, Mr. Wells' eyebrows nearly disappeared up into his hairline. After such an emotionless display he only had one thing to say, "Quite." He then plopped down in the nearest chair and poured himself a brandy. It was several moments before he spoke again. "Why all the dashed hurry to find that scalawag?"
"We have been examining the events surrounding his 'departure' from his normal timeframe. His exposure to your machine has polluted his temporal signature and we are unable to get a direct fix on him. We know he is somewhen in this century."
The curiosity of the situation was thrilling the author. "Yes, he is, but you have not answered my question."
"Right. Your meddling has corrupted the timeline. Whenever you dropped him off at is sending temporal ripples uptime and has destroyed our civilization."
Wells' was crushed. He had destroyed Utopia!
Jela-Nor was rather enjoying breaking the little man's spirit and so continued. Sometimes one had to be cruel to be kind. "Fortunately, the Temporal Peace Keepers are prepared for such things. However, the temporal interference generated by your machine is wreaking havoc with our temporal scanners. Even so, we have to take him
after he finishes his 'diary' of the future to ensure that the beneficial changes from that event take place and for that…I will… need… your help." Jela-Nor choked the last few words out.
"Oh, dear!"
" 'Oh, dear,' indeed! So when and where is he?"
"October 31, 1866; Kansas State Asylum. It seemed fitting for a man that loves irony." Mr. Wells, though contrite, couldn't help a small smile at his cleverness.
A smile graced his visitor's face and a triumphant one at that. "I
knew he was in Kansas. That seemed to be the most prevalent focus we had. We just couldn't set the year firmly. He only included the month and day in his entries. The entries span about three years. All we knew was that it surfaced in 1995, just before it was destroyed. We attempted to track it but, like Tempus himself, its temporal signature was confused."
Wells sat in rapt attention to what the woman from the future had to say. He was pleased and horrified at the same time. He hadn't meant to cause any problems, and yet he had. He had planned so carefully. A frown creased his brow.
His 'guest' realized she had lost the attention of her audience. "Ahem."
Wells' eyes widened. "Er, yes, please continue."
She raised an eyebrow and continued. "Everything and everyone you brought back from the future in your contraption has contaminated whatever it has come in contact with. We can't, as yet, track them with our temporal scopes."
"Everywhen and everyone that I have visited, even your future?"
Jela-Nor frowned a bit. "That is the one place that it hasn't been a problem. We theorized that there might be an electromagnetic frequency present in our time that nullifies the effects of your machine. Our hope is that the nullifying effect is simple to reproduce and that with some further analysis of your device we can make some modifications to it so that the contamination will cease.
"In the meantime, here is a temporal locator. It was especially designed for you." Mr. Wells' guest handed him a small metallic disk about the size of a small coin.
"This has a two-fold function. It will allow us to track you whenever you go. It will allow for easier rescue, when you need it. Place it against your neck."
He did so and was startled by its disappearance under his skin. He ran his fingers over the spot and could vaguely feel its outline if he pressed hard enough.
"That just makes it difficult to lose. It is completely hypo-immunogenic ."
"Hypo…?"
"Your body won't try to reject it or attack it."
"Oh! I say! Smashing!" Wells thought for a moment and then said, "Why would my body attack it, and how would it do such a thing?"
The inhaled breath from Jela-Nor disturbed some nearby papers. The Senior Peace Keeper rolled her eyes. But she could not keep the impertinence from her tone. "Shall we get
on with things?"
~*~
It was 1869. Tempus had spent three years proving his sanity, slowly volunteering for more and more responsible jobs. He likened himself to Joseph from ancient times, falsely accused as he bided his time in prison. He had a vision of the future and it didn't contain Superman.
Mr. Jonson Mazik and his wife Meryl had run the asylum all these years. He was always fair and she was always kind. It was enough to turn Tempus' stomach, but he had a role to play and play it he did--right up until the day that he was set free.
Tempus had finished packing and had left the diary in the drawer of his room. While Tempus was taking care of some last minute details, Meryl found the book and in a moment of decision, decided that it should go with Tempus. It was the ravings of a madman but it had fascinated her husband, what with its talk of plastics and electrical machines. But, it was still the ravings of a madman, regardless. Flying men? Really! So she stuck it in Tempus' satchel, hoping to never see it again.
~*~
Jela-Nor opened her eyes, turned to Wells, and nodded. One error fixed--Mazik wouldn't get his hands on the diary.
~*~
Tempus was given a horse, a clean suit, a change of clothes and five dollars. He had shaved his beard off and slicked his hair back to change his appearance. He thought about wearing a pair of spectacles but just couldn't bring himself to emulating his nemesis. With that he set off for Smallville, whistling the tune to "I Shot the Sheriff."
~*~
