Temporal Exploring 101 - Cultural Immersion

II.2 Publish or perish

After finishing our bath, Natty and I wrapped ourselves in towels and went to the living-room where my Temporal Instructor and her grad student were seated at a small table. We joined them, sitting down on the couch.  

"We were talking about the latest developments and their implications, Catherine," Sara addressed me. "I understand that you saw fit to inform Natalie about the basics of your mission and its objectives, so there is no need to exclude her from this discussion."

I nodded, feeling more than a bit guilty. What Sara had said was true, after all.

When I had thought that Natty and I were going to die in that fire, I had told my roommate just about everything: how on my first temporal assignment I had been sent back in time to the 1960s, to get enrolled at the St. Albert's boarding school for girls in order to investigate if the student Natalie Fogg was the same person as the mysterious Natty Fogg, author of the Red Notebook. That famous notebook which had been dug out of the rubble of a former London park and which contained mathematics that had proved to be instrumental in the development of time travel. It had not taken me long to determine that Natty was indeed the author of the Red Notebook. But that's when things had started to get both complicated and dangerous. A mysterious stranger – the Ruggedly Handsome Devil, as our school secretary had so aptly described him – had attempted to kidnap Natty at least twice. What's more, I had found out that, just like myself, that man was a visitor from another time. As if that had not been enough, a group of pyrtar had shown up at St. Albert's. They had captured Natty and me and locked us up in the school's volleyball hall before setting that building on fire.

The latter part was news for Sara and Mira. Both of them were shocked to learn that Natty and I had narrowly escaped an attempt to kill us.

"These people were not human, were they?" Natty asked, referring to our would-be murderers. "They looked like ordinary human beings, but they felt ... all strange." She shuddered.

"Well no, they were not human," Sara confirmed. "From what Catherine told us, they were pyrtar. They are the result of genetic engineering, a misguided attempt to create a new species of ideal soldiers."

"Oh my gosh, seriously?" Natty managed to look both horrified and fascinated, at the same time. "Did these ... pyrtar already exist in the 1960s? Like, was their existence kept secret by the government or something?"

"No, those ill-advised genetic engineering experiments were done much later, when ..." Sara broke off. Somewhat belatedly it must have occurred to her that it might be unwise to inform Natty about historical events that would happen only in the girl's future. "Never mind when. Let it suffice to say that the pyrtar did not exist yet in the 20th century."

"But if that is so ... Why would they want to kill me?" Natty asked.

"We have no idea," Sara admitted. "All we can say with certainty is that, just like that person you refer to as The Ruggedly Handsome Devil they come from the future. And when I talk about the future here, I mean Mira's and Catherine's and my future."

"Do you think that man and the pyrtar worked together?" Mira asked. "The Ruggedly Handsome Devil, I mean."

"We do not know that either. From his actions, it cannot be inferred if the man actually planned to kill Natalie," Sara replied.

"Come to think of it, he kind of warned us that Natty would no longer be safe at St. Albert's," I offered. "That may have been a trick, of course. But it could just as easily have been an attempt to warn us against the pyrtar."

"So what is going to happen now?" Natty wanted to know. "With me, I mean. Can I stay here, in the 23rd century?" She grinned happily at the idea. "I would love to study Temporal Physics here at the Institute with you, Professor Jenkins."

From the expression on her face it was not hard to tell that Sara liked that idea, too.

"I would be happy to welcome you as my student, Natalie. But as I told you, bringing back a person from the past is not permitted, and there have never been made any exceptions to that ruling, so far. Besides, if the authorities were to find out that Catherine brought you back from the past, there would be serious repercussions. Catherine could be expelled from the university and she might even have to face criminal charges brought up against her. You would not want that to happen to her, would you?"

"No, of course not."

"In any case, it is too early to decide if letting you stay here would even be an option," my Temporal Instructor continued. "We shall initiate a Deep Search of the Grid for any kind of data concerning your future, as a student at St. Albert's or later."

"That ought to be easy enough," Natty retorted. "You just have to look for publications in scientific journals of which I am a coauthor, starting in the early 1970s or so, I would guess."

Sara, Mira and I exchanged glances. There was a brief silence.

"What?" Natty asked. I do not know if we would have told her the truth. But she was too quick for us, anyhow. "There are no publications under my name to be found? None at all?" She looked aghast. "But what does that mean?"

"It could mean that you got married and published under your new last name," Sara told her. "Or it could mean that you will change your mind about studying physics and doing research."

"That is never going to happen," Natty categorically declared.

"It could also mean that ..." Sara hesitated, "that something will happen to you."

"You mean, that I am going die before I get the chance to do any research?"

Natty frowned. Then her face lit up.

"You know what it probably means, though? It means that I am going to stay here with you, in the 23rd century." She beamed. "No publications in the 1970s, but lots of them in the 23rd century. Right?"

"Maybe so." Sara did not sound utterly convinced. "Let's just wait for the results of that Deep Search."

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A / N : Thank you for reading the second chapter of Cultural Immersion. I would be happy to get your feedback, so please feel free to add your comments, opinions, speculations below or to vote. Of course I will also read and reply to any PM you may send me.