Chapter 1: The landing

I arrived in this universe in much the way I have been for the last several years off and on, more on because I simply was not expecting to come hurtling towards the Earth again. Especially after the Hiderde's swore that they had worked all of the kinks out of the transmat machine. Bob always looked sure of himself when he said that, well as much as someone lacking an actual body and facial expressions could.

So this was how I found myself in a brand new universe, in a crater, a foot deep that I created when I fell. Let me start off by saying that this is not how I like to travel.

I was expecting to walk out of the tunnel at ground level and be fine ... that didn't happen often in my case. As an understandable result I had become accustomed to powering up slightly when I come through the transmat tunnel, just enough not to knock myself silly again, I did that enough in my early years.

"OOOOOOWWWWW!" I said, looking up to the sky. I landed butter side up, on my back and the hole around me was smoking.

"Not again Bob, you said, you fixed it this time," I muttered, still not moving from were I landed. "This is the seventh time, no eighth time he said it was working right and I land like this, you'd figure by now I would have learned my lesson."

I blinked at the blue sky peeking from between the trees above me for a minute and sat up to look around me. I found myself in a kind of wooded area, lucky for me I didn't think I landed on anyone this time. Take it from me that is not a fun situation to deal this. The place looked too well groomed to be true wilderness, but enough to make you feel like you might be out there at that night.

I guessed a private estate or a large park. I wondered which. I finally decided to get up and look around. New planet, new adventures, that's what the brochure said when I signed up for this job, that is if there had been a brochure or if anyone had ever really asked me if I want the job.

For those of you that are just meeting me for the first time my name is John Harris and I am what you might call a traveler. No not the ones that sells you Tupperware or vacuums. Nope, those guys have a calling and a desire, I think? No, I'm the other type of traveler, the one that get sent to the farthest reaches of the Multi-verse to do whatever it is I get sent there to do. Leaping from planet to planet to put right what once went wrong and hopping each time that his next leap would be the next leap home ... oops sorry wrong show. I didn't ask for this job but well it sort of just happened that way, but that was a different story all together. Let's just say no good deed goes unpunished.

I got up and head off in no particular direction, I've come to find, that in my somewhat vast experience as a wanderer, anywhere tend to lead to somewhere eventually. I got about 40 yards before I found a foot path that looked like it could be a joggers trail. I shrugged and turned to the left and walked on, again using my same principle.

I walked for a few minutes trying to workout some of the knots that I got when I landed, yeah see if you don't have a few kinks yourself when you fall a few stories at a speeds exceeding terminal velocity, when I can across a female jogger. I stopped her to ask where or when I was.

The jogger slowed down when she caught sight of me, I guess from her point of view I can't blame her because I was pretty sure I looked like one of those people they warn you about when you go on jogging trails. A strange looking bald headed black man with a goatee and wearing old fashioned western cloths in the middle of a jog trail in what I assumed was mid June. I was wearing jeans with cowboy boots, a plaid flannel shirt, and large duster complete with mantle that was covered in a thick layer of grit and dirty. My holsters where still strapped to my legs and both guns were clearly visible from her perspective. I wasn't sure how my face looked because were I just came from mirrors weren't that readily available or even invented like they where at home.