Chapter 1

I couldn’t tell if I was asleep or awake, but I had no trouble understanding what my “visitor” had to say. That alone was surprising! Here I was on my death bed in St. Clements Hospital dying of lymphatic cancer, I don’t remember which kind. I was so doped up on pain killers that my brain was floating in some never never land of white fog. People, usually nurses, would talk to me, and I could never understand what they were saying. At 84 years old, I really didn’t care what they said as long as they kept the pain at bay.

The conversation went something like this. “Hello, James Roberts. I hope that you can understand what I am saying to you.”

“Hello, yourself. Yes, I don’t understand why, but I can understand what you are saying quite well. How are you doing that when everybody else mumbles?”

“Don’t worry about that, Jim, just pay attention to what I have to tell you. You are not hearing me with your ears, but directly with your mind. We can converse quite well as long as your mind holds together. Unfortunately, you are scheduled to die in a few hours, so we have to proceed apace to make sure that you hear everything that I have to offer you.”

“I was wondering how much longer I was going to have to put up with this shit. My family thinks that I should live just as long as possible. I think that they have the idea that God wills it, or something. Personally, I would like to die and get it over with. I am curious to see what the other side looks like. So, go ahead; I’m listening.”

“Thank you, Jim. Fortunately for us, you have always had an open mind and have been receptive to fresh and new ideas. Therefore, I hope that you can believe me when I tell you that I am communicating with you from approximately 3,000 years in your future.”

“No Shit!?!”

“Yes, here in the future, we are facing a dire circumstance. Now, pay attention, because this gets a little bit complicated and hard to believe...”

“WHAT? You think that talking to someone from 3,000 years in the future is not hard enough to believe all by itself?”

“Jim, your point is well taken, but please do not interrupt me. This communication takes a tremendous amount of power, and I don’t know how long I can keep the link open. If it breaks, I will be back as soon as we can get it repaired.

“Now, back to the original discussion. We are involved in a war with ourselves from another universe. Basically, there are millions of universes that have been generated as a result of events in the past. Every decisive moment in history has produced at least two universes, but only a very few of them have made a long term and significant difference. It has become common for us to exchange ideas and, recently, goods from universe to universe.

“Everything was going fine until we met a universe which was totally committed to ruling all of creation. They have gathered allies and that coalition has now declared war on the remaining universes. We have been caught completely short in facing this war because we have been devoted to peace for 1,500 years. Up until the war started, we did not even need police because we had become so peaceful.

“Well, we are learning fast, but the enemy has such a head start on us that we despair of saving ourselves without outside help. That is where you come in. We have discovered that the most significant event in the history of the world was the American Civil War. There was a battle at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that effectively decided the course of the war and, eventually, all of human history.

“Specifically, a win by the Union would produce the world time line that you live in, but a win by the Confederacy would produce a world time line that would ally with our enemies. Therefore, it is to our advantage to insure as many wins by the Union as possible so that we could have enough allies to win for our side. The alternative is all of creation to be ruled by people who believe in slavery and oppression of the weaker members of the human race.

“So far, only 27% of the universes had a Union win, and we must raise that ratio or perish! We now believe that the key to the Confederate victory was their artillery. Some way must be found to counter that, and you are the one we hope who will find that countermeasure. As you can see, we need you, and we are willing to pay dearly for your cooperation.”

“Okay, so I see what your problem is, but why do you need me? I am about to die, so how can I possibly help you?”

“Nothing can be done about the death of your current body, but your mind, your soul, your spirit can be saved by moving it into another body. We offer to transfer your essence into a clone of your body when you were about 20-25 years old. In other words, it would be like being reborn into a body that you are comfortable with, yet would be free of the disease that is now killing you. Everything desirable about you would be transferred, but you would be rid of any disease. In fact, your new body would be so enhanced that you would never get sick again from any cause. How does that sound for openers?”

“Hell, I’ll take the job right now based on that offer. When can I move?”

“You will move very shortly, but you have to understand other things, first. This is the way the transfer will work. You will be moved back to the year 1860 so that you will have adequate time to prepare and to reach Gettysburg. Your arrival in 1860 will be in what is now Washington State in the region controlled by the Klickitat Indians near the Columbia River.

“We have established an outpost underground so that you will not be disturbed while you are getting ready. This outpost has all of the amenities that you would expect from a good hotel of the 21^st century, as well as workshops and laboratories for doing the necessary work. Virtually everything is automated, so you do not have to do any of the routine grunt work yourself. Mostly, you will be learning to use your weapons and to live in the field in that era. One thing you must do as soon as possible is to establish a rapport with the local Klickitats. They met the Lewis and Clark Expedition and have some experience with fur trappers, so you will not be completely unique to them.

“Before you ask, I will say that the reason that we have chosen to work with a native of the 21^st century is because you can understand what we are about and can cope with the new things that you will encounter at the base. We cannot send one of our own people because of the energy requirements to send a living being back in time 3,000 years. A shift of only 150 years or so is a trifle compared to that energy consumption. Of course, we will also be shifting you to a new universe, but that is easy.

“Shifting back and forth between universes is a simple matter, but travel in time is very difficult, so you will have to realize that your trip is one way. There is no practical way with our current equipment to bring you back to the 21^st century. Remember, once you go, you are gone!

“We will also implant in your brain a micro universal translator. You will only have to hear a few sentences of a language to begin to understand it. The translator learns very fast and never forgets, so once you can understand a language, you have it for your whole life.

“We will supply you with an ample quantity of gold coins of the era, so you will always have money. Don’t waste it, but don’t be afraid to spend it, either. You may well have a lot of unexpected expenses as you travel, but remember that the average man was lucky to earn $10 a month in wages.

“Well, that is pretty much it, but we will be able to communicate easily as long as you are at the base in Klickitat territory, so feel free to ask questions whenever you feel the need. You may call me Joe, though that is not my name. My real name is part of a language that does not even exist in your time, so you would not be able to pronounce it. Good luck, and I will talk to you when you wake up in your new home.”

“So long, Joe, and thanks.”

Apparently, he turned off his communication device at that point because the world returned to the gray fog that I had been living in for the last two months or so. Suddenly, I could hear some alarms going off, and I faded out of consciousness.

******

The next thing that I knew, I was waking up in a comfortable bed in a bedroom that was very tastefully decorated. I sat up, and that was when it really hit me that I was free of the pain that I had felt for nearly a year. Thank God and my future benefactors! Just getting rid of the pain is worth whatever I have to go through to pay back my debt.

I was a little surprised to see that the ceiling held a mirror right over the bed. I thought only top of the line bordellos did that, but it was the cause of my second shock when I found myself starring at a young man who bore a faint resemblance to me. I was the only one in the bed, and the man in the mirror image was alone, so he must be what I looked like now. I wondered if I had really been that handsome when I had been in my early 20s. If so, no wonder I was able to attract all of the female companionship I wanted at that time!