An uninformed observer would have been justified in believing Guldur Zan to be a heroic figure as he stood watching an angry army storm his palace. He seemed detached, as if he did not face imminent death at the hands of those he had terrorized for years. There was no way for him to escape, no place to hide, no comfortable exile awaiting this dictator. As the forces of rebellion breached the outer gates, he turned and walked to the stairs leading to the roof of his seat of power. Because he did have a way to escape: not through distance, but through time.
As he strode onto the roof, he noted with satisfaction that the preparations were done. The large capsule that would transport him a year into the past was moved onto its pad and its massive door was open. The scientist who had built it was powering up the mechanism. There was no need to exchange words. Through many hours of torture, this man, Pronik Sil, had never wavered in his contention that the machine would work. Had he exhibited any doubts both he and his family would long since have suffered agonizing deaths. Guldur was completely confident that he would soon be a year in the past, ready to seek vengeance against the plotters, most of whom would not even know they were to become plotters.
He took his place inside the capsule. It had seemed odd that Pronik had made the device so large, but the scientist had explained that it was necessary to protect Guldur from the time waves that might develop. It had been so well built that even blaster fire at close range would bounce off harmlessly. This proved to be a prudent precaution, as the rebel force had penetrated the castle’s defenses earlier than Guldur had expected. Most likely even his personal guard had defected. He smiled grimly and thought that his retributions would be more bloody than he had assumed.
The first of his attackers reached the rooftop just as the machinery began to hum. He could see their surprise when they realized their prey was sitting inside a giant round capsule, grinning at them through a porthole. One of them turned his weapon toward the tyrant. Guldur was alarmed as the blaster he carried was aimed at the capsule even though he believed Pronik’s reassurances about its armor shielding. Relief soon followed, though, as he realized the man’s movements were slowing. Just as the trigger was pressed, and a narrow beam left the barrel, the man reversed his action and began moving backward toward the entrance. Guldur was elated, then puzzled as the room seemed to shift toward the right. In a few seconds he would know terror.
The leader of the squad that had reached the launching pad had killed or captured the few remaining loyal troops on the roof when he realized that Guldur was a few feet from him, sitting in a large vehicle of some sort. He raised his blaster and fired in an attempt to disable the craft, but it vanished.
“What happened? Where is Guldur?” he raged.
Pronik raised himself from behind the desk where he had hidden during the brief battle.
“He’s gone. What you saw was a time machine. He is now safely in the past, exactly a year ago, ready to seek vengeance on you and the rest of the plotters,” said the scientist.
“You allowed that monster to escape? He will kill thousands because of you.”
“If that is true” said Pronik “ how can you be here? He saw you with his own eyes. You would have been one of the first to experience the tender ministrations of that animal. So, you could not be here if he killed you a year ago.”
The squad leader was baffled. “You said you sent him back a year. Did you lie? Was the machine really a death chamber?”
“Oh no, I could never have built such a thing. Even if I believed in murder, I could not have deceived him over such a long time. No, what you saw was indeed a time machine. Guldur is now a year in the past. in exactly the same place he left.”
“Then how..what..I don’t understand..”
“Yes, Guldur is a year in the past, in the same place he left. What I never pointed out to him, and he never thought to ask, was where the same place was. You see, a year ago, the earth was not here. It was a year away from being HERE. The exact spot where Guldur found himself was in the middle of empty space, a space that earth would not occupy for another year. I told him that I had overbuilt his vessel to protect him and that was true. I wanted to keep him alive so he could suffer for years in his solitary cell. The bio systems could keep a dozen men alive for years. He could be alive for decades.”
The soldier quietly considered the enormity of the punishment that Guldur had unwittingly consigned himself to, while the scientist continued.
“It will be a lifetime of the most solitary confinement ever experienced. There will be no possibility of any human contact of any kind, not even a possibility of seeing the outside world. The horror will persist for an eternity.”
“An eternity?” questioned the surprised rebel.
“Yes,” said Pronik. “For us, time will continue from this moment. For Guldur, this moment will be relived forever. Remember, as you saw him get into what he thought would be his escape vehicle, he was also out in space, watching the earth hurtle by. He was no doubt trying to devise some way to warn himself not to get into that prison cell. But he couldn’t. And he never will. As long as time exists, there will be another Guldur starting his dreadful journey. So far as we are concerned, this event happened once. For Guldur, it may be his first, or his ten millionth, time to watch the earth pass by. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to rescue my family from the tyrant’s dungeon.”
rikemans 