Chapter 1: Too Close

As a disastrous storm tears the small town of Knox apart, an 1832 Pawnee Indian appears in 2033AD. The Time Travel Police will capture and use him as a lab rat unless someone intervenes.

July 15^th, 2033, 2:00pm

“So, Hansel and Gretel, followed the moonlit path of rocks back to the safety of their home,” he heard his mother read.

The basement was illuminated by a blue flash from a lightning strike just outside of the small window. His mother paused as thunder shook the ground. Her eye angled upwards at the old, unfinished ceiling as if expecting it to collapse on them.

“Jay,“ Sarah, his younger sister, hugged him tightly from the side. “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay.” Jay lifted her up and set her on his lap. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Her little body trembled with fear. Nothing could tear him away from her during this storm.

Just then, he felt a disturbance. He could mentally feel the Sun’s gravitons shift from their usual straight motion. He tensed. 

His mother noticed his rigid posture. “What is it?” she asked.

“There’s�"“ Jay’s voice broke off as his stomach started to turn. His lips quivered as he built up the confidence to say the words none of them wanted to hear. “There’s someone out there.”

His mother’s forehead wrinkled. Her skin turned white with grief. “A visitor?”

Jay nodded. Only a Time Traveler was capable of creating such a distortion in the flow of gravitons. With unauthorized time travel illegal, he knew that no one would do such a thing in the open unless they were unaware of the consequences. There was only one type of person who fit this description. A visitor. Not a visitor to the city, but a visitor through time. A visitor from the past.

He had to do something. With a torn heart, he lifted his sister off of his lap. Though he loved her more than anything, he couldn’t let the visitor suffer in the hands of the Time Travel Police.

“Please, let the TTP handle him," his mother said the Time Travel Police acronym with distaste.

He met his mother’s eyes for a moment, before he looked to the ground. “I can’t,” Jay turned away and walked towards the stairs. “You know what they will do to him,“ he said over his shoulder.

"Jay, please stay!" Sarah chased after him and hugged him from behind.

 Jay turned to her. Sorrow filled his eyes at the thought of leaving her. He bent down to her eye level and stroked her hair. "I will come back," he assured her.

She nodded her head with absolute confidence in his words.

He kissed her on the forehead, and pointed her towards her mother. “I won’t be long,” he said to his mother. He turned away before his love for them made him stay. The stairs creaked underneath him as he climbed to the top and exited the basement. Before he shut the small door behind him, he listened to his mother's soothing tone as she comforted his sister and brother.

With the latch secured, he raced to the hall to retrieve his jacket. There was no time to lose. The TTP must have already been alerted to the distortion. They would be finishing their calculations by now. In a few moments it would all be too late.

Jay forced the door open and dashed into the storm. The frame shook as the wind shut the door behind him. He didn’t care that the town’s tornado sirens blared. He had to prevent what was going to happen.

If the TTP beat him to the visitor, then they would either kill him on the spot or bring him back to the Time Travel Research Society where he would die as a lab rat.

His feet skidded on the dry gravel as he turned down a back alley. It had yet to start raining, but the dark clouds above told him that rain wasn’t far off. The wind, as well, smelt of rain mixed with the smell of dust and manure from the fields nearby.

After the alley, he would need to cut through the Hayman’s yard to get on Skyline drive. From there, it would be a straight shot towards where he had felt the disturbance.

Nearly halfway down Skyline drive, he saw a man running towards him. He was dressed in strange furs. Jay squinted. A few moments later he recognized him as a Native American. Without a doubt, he knew that this was the visitor.

The native’s wide, fearful eyes jumped from side to side. No matter what he saw, everything added to the fear that drove him onward. He only noticed Jay when he was twenty feet away. He yelled in fear and turned to cross the lawn on his right.

“Don’t worry,” Jay yelled as he followed after him. “I'm here to help you!”

The Native balanced on the top of the fence and faced Jay. “You, white men, take over our land!” The veins on his forehead bulged as he spoke.

Jay didn’t have time for this. “Listen. If you don’t let me help you, they will make you a slave.”

Hardly had Jay finished speaking when the native looked passed him. His face contorted in fear, as he swung around and jumped off the fence to land on the other side.

Behind him, Jay saw five TTP use the sun’s gravitons to jump over a fence. Jay muttered a curse and chased after the native.

It was because Time Travelers could feel others make time jumps that the TTP were able to pinpoint the native’s location just as easily as Jay had.

Since tracking time jumps was easy and only forwards time travel was possible, there was no way for him to escape in time. All he could try to do now was out run the TTP, and so he did. Jay followed the native over several more fences to find himself at the edge of town.

A raindrop splattered on his face which was soon followed by dozens of others. A distant barn vanished behind the curtain of rain.

Up ahead, the Native thrust off his thick fur coat and ran across the open plain. The wind caught the fur and lifted it into the air like a leaf in the breeze. With another glance behind, the native turned towards the west to escape his pursuers.

Taking advantage of the situation, Jay used the sun’s gravitons to make a small time jump to appear just behind the native. Midstride, Jay looked back to discover the five TTP splitting up and forming a circle. He recognized their plan. He only had a few seconds before escaping would be impossible.

“We have to go north or they will surround us!" Jay yelled as the situation started to slip out of his control.

"You are trick white man,” the native’s voice was sharp with anger. “I know your kind.”

Hardly had he finished speaking before one of the TTP appeared only feet in front of them. They both skidded to a halt. The native yelled in surprise as he realized that they were surrounded. Jay looked down to the ground. He hoped the TTP wouldn’t recognize him.

Instantly, Jay calculated a plan. “When I say ‘now’, run towards the town,” he whispered. With his face angled downwards, there was no way of knowing if the native understood or even heard him over the wind.

"Now listen you two,” the TTP Officer began. “Because you resisted the TTP, we can, by law, add up to a year to your prison sentence.” His voice sounded low and dangerous. “However, if you listen to me and do as I say, I can cut that time down to a single month.” He took a step towards Jay. “Do you understand?"  The Officer reached out a hand to lift Jay’s head up.

“Now!” Jay yelled as he punched the TTP Officer and focused on the gravitons. He pictured a funnel above each TTP. They shot into the air as the sun’s gravity was magnified onto each of them. Jay spun on his heels and chased after the native who had, thankfully, listened to his directions.

Before any of the TTP could break his hold on them, Jay let them fall to the ground. With his mind now free, he funneled the gravitons onto the ground behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw dust rise into the air. The wind swept it towards the TTP, hindering their progress and any attempts to catch Jay in a reversed gravitational hold.

Only when he was certain that they were far enough behind, did he release his hold on the gravitons. The native slowed down for him and let him lead the way. They cut through a few yards before Jay stuck to the roads and lead a zigzagged pattern through the neighborhood.

Without any warning, large golf ball sized hail fell from the sky to shatter on the pavement beneath them. A few struck them, but Jay was determined not to slow.

Once he was certain he had lost the TTP, he came to a breathless stop. In place of his heavy breathing, Jay heard a low rumbling. He turned to find a black vortex swirling no more than a mile away.

His hands started to shake as he pulled out a small object. He took a few steps until it lit up green. He had to strain his ears to hear what it said.

"31.457243 seconds," came the animated computer voice.

The native staggered backwards as he heard the small object talk, but, seeing that Jay wasn't frightened, he made an effort to calm down. "What you do?" He asked without taking his eyes off of the glowing object.

"I am going to send you to a faraway land so that they will not catch you." Jay yelled, hoping the native would understand.

The native narrowed his eyes but didn’t push any further, so Jay continued with the preparations. He pulled the native onto where the object had turned green.

"Name?" he asked Jay.

"Jay�"" He paused. Telling the native his name was not a good idea. If the TTP ever found him, they would torture him until he turned Jay in. "�"Webb." Anger filled his mind. It had been a while since he had last heard the two words together.

"I thank Jay Webb,” the native had trouble saying the name. “If Jay Webb ever need help I,” he pointed to himself, “Kiyo Toka, will wait for Jay Webb."

"Thank you, Kiyo Toka. It’s an honor to meet you." Jay closed his eyes and reversed the gravity for Kiyo by funneling the suns gravitons onto him. He pictured the amount of time that the object had told him and opened his eyes. As he expected, Kiyo was gone and would appear in China in 31.5 seconds.

With Kiyo safe, he noticed the ground was shaking. He turned and stared in awe at the massive swirling cloud. Roof shingles, fence posts and tree limbs orbited the growling beast. It was already in the town.

No, my family! Jay ran in the direction of his house and the tornado. Judging by the position of the tornado, it hadn't reached his house, but it was close. Too close. 

Author's Note

Please, tear it apart! Any critique is a good critique, but please be smart about it.