Chapter 16: Future Plans

Lars gave another English lesson that morning, but that didn’t seem all that helpful. He was teaching the Vikings the names of things, but he knew there was much more to learning a language than learning just the nouns. Verbs were important, too, along with adjectives and adverbs, and grammar was necessary, and Lars didn’t know how to teach that. He knew his language abilities were very unusual. What seemed obvious to him was not at all obvious to almost anybody else.

Mid-morning, Travis came to him and pulled him out of the bunkhouse and into an empty office. Jennifer was already waiting for them. Travis said, “Some people are coming in tomorrow, and we need to be ready for them.”

“Who’s coming?” asked Jennifer, beating Lars by only a second.

“I’m not completely sure. I do know that one of the people is a fellow I was just working with in Scotland to end this time travel mess. He’s kind of like me, a British troubleshooter of sorts. He’s bringing somebody with him to help figure out what to do with the Vikings. He’s also going to bring one or two people here to figure out what to do with you two.”

“With us?” asked Lars.

Travis nodded. “Listen, we have two problems. The first problem is what to do with the Vikings. We can’t just turn them loose in London and say, ‘Welcome to England. Good luck!’ They can’t speak or read the language, they have nowhere to stay, nobody to help them, and no skills they can earn a living with. They’d be better off if we dumped them back in the North Sea!”

“Travis is right, Lars. We get a lot of immigrants coming to England, many of whom can’t speak English, but at least they’re from this world. If some Pole comes in, he’ll be able to find other Poles, maybe live with them. He’ll know what a car is, what a train is, how modern life works, even if it was just what worked in Warsaw or Krakow. He can read and write, even if it is just in Polish. These guys? Nothing!” said Jennifer.

“So, what’s the second problem?”

“You. You are still the only person we have that can speak to them easily and, more important, that they trust. I want you to stay with them as their interpreter,” said, Travis.

“I thought I was doing that already?”

“Technically, your contract covers you only until the end of the summer, at which time we ship you home and you go back to school in Manchester.” He turned to Jennifer and added, “That’s Manchester, New Hampshire.”

“Ah!” she said.

Travis continued, “I won’t be here much longer. My assignment was to figure out if this time travel thing was real and what to do about it. That assignment is over. It was real and we stopped it. My boss is going to want me to come home soon. I can drag it out another week or so, but that’s it. Once these guys get to England, I don’t have any reason to stay.”

“How did they get here, anyway? And what did you do about it?” asked Jennifer.

“Good question,” agreed Lars.

Travis shook his head. “I can’t tell you, ever, and never ask me again. The official story is going to be that it really happened, but we don’t understand it, and it isn’t important anyway. We think somebody in the future, maybe hundreds of years from now, invented it, and what happened was them screwing around. Maybe even little green men from outer space.”

“Really?” asked Lars skeptically.

“The Air Force is releasing some photos and videos taken by pilots of stuff they can’t explain, UFOs and the like. They just happened to be at the same time as the disks appeared,” said Travis.

“Very coincidental,” commented Jennifer.

“And you expect people to believe that?” asked Lars.

Travis shrugged. “They will want to believe it. Anyway, that’s not important. Like I said, you can go home at the end of the summer, but I am pretty sure that our British cousins are going to make you an offer to stick around longer, at least until the Vikings can settle in. Depending on the deal, it might be a good idea. Right now, you two are the world’s leading experts on real live Vikings. Experts get paid.”

“Huh.”

“Think about it, Lars. I’m not saying you’d be stuck here forever. You’re still an American citizen. If you want to go visit Mom and Dad sometime, just buy a ticket to Boston and wave your new passport around. I’m just saying that the world is a bigger place than Manchester. Be part of something bigger.”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

“What about me?” asked Jennifer. “I can guarantee that somebody back at Oxford is going to try and winkle me out of my research! They’ll say I’m too junior or don’t have the proper credentials or something!”

Travis shrugged and gave a sly smile. “That does sound serious. I wonder what will happen when they tell that to the Vikings, that you’re no longer going to be there and that they have to deal with new people? I mean, assuming they have somebody available who is completely fluent in Old Norse and can tell them that.”

Jennifer stopped at that. “You mean...”

“I mean, what if Torvald and his people let the new people know that they only trust you and Lars, and that they’ll only work with the two of you.”

Jennifer looked over at Lars and said, “You need to stick around!”

Travis finished with a grin. “I told you, Jennifer, start writing your thesis! I mean it! Afterwards, you can write a book or two about this, do TV shows, get knighted by the Queen! Whatever!”

“I need to do some thinking,” said Lars. He stood and left the office and went outside. The weather had improved and was improbably bright and sunny. He wandered around a bit before sitting down on a pallet of concrete mix bags.

What the hell was he going to do? If it was just a job decision, it was straightforward. Stay in England another couple of months and collect payment in the form of two years of college tuition. It was a no-brainer. The job wasn’t difficult. It wasn’t like he was in any danger, at least not now, the job wasn’t physically taxing, and it was interesting. How many people could say that they actually knew Vikings and got to work with them?

But it wasn’t just a job. He had heard that the Chinese had a saying that if you saved a drowning man, you were responsible for him for the rest of your life. That had never made any sense to Lars, but now he was faced with the reality. By helping the Vikings, who had been minutes away from really and truly drowning, Lars had tied his life to theirs. He had reinforced that idea when he had stood between the mercenaries and the Vikings the previous day. He hadn’t considered it that way at the time but had simply done it out of sheer human decency, yet it had tied his fate even further to theirs.

And Helga, what was he going to do about Helga? Their lives were so different, yet he felt something for the girl he had never felt for any girl before.

“Excuse us, sir.”

Lars looked around at the voice calling him. He saw a couple of British engineers off to the side, with a third sitting on an idling forklift. “Sorry? Were you saying something.?”

One of the men pointed at the pallet Lars was sitting on. “Sorry, Mister Ropstad, but we need to move the pallet.”

Lars stood up. “Sorry about that. I’ll move.”

“Thank you.”

Lars went to the bunkhouse and entered. Helga saw him and smiled, which made Lars’ heart stop a little. She came over to him and looked at his eye. “Þú lítekr gerði en verr.” {"You look like I did but worse."}

Lars gave her a dry look and replied, “Þakka.”

Helga laughed lightly. “ Hvat eru vér fara til í dag? Meiri ór Englishinn leikr?” {"What are we doing today. More of the English game?"}

Lars smiled but shook his head. “ Vér skulu mæla. Komúti mit mér. Þat er fagr dagr.” {"We should talk. Come outside with me. It is a beautiful day."}

“Ja.”

Lars found Torvald and explained he wanted to talk to Helga, and they would be right outside, and then picked up a pair of folding chairs. Torvald nodded. He wanted to say that his daughter couldn’t be alone in the presence of another man, but it wasn’t as if Lars was carrying a bed. Besides, if Lars wanted to bed his daughter, Torvald wasn’t going to be able to stop him. Helga would be an eager volunteer!

Lars led the way outside and walked away from the building, to set up the chairs a hundred feet away from the bunkhouse. He faced them towards the bog, which looked green and placid. Helga sat in one and he sat in the other.

“Helga...”

“Ja ... Yes, Lars. It are a fagr ... day,” she said in a halting mix of English and Old Norse.

“Yes. Helga, a fair day.”

“A fair day. I ... learn, Lars.” She smiled coyly at him and winked. “ Er þessi ólíkr leikr?” {"Is this a different game?"}

Lars rolled his eyes. “ Eingefr ek viljþinnr faðir til nýtatt hans knifr á mik. Ek viljtilr standa maðrr!” {"Only if I want your father to use his knife on me! I want to remain a man!"}

Helga laughed at that, and then reached out and took his hand. “ Ek munu verja þú.” {"I will protect you."} Then she looked at him seriously and said, “Lítþúr gerði með oss.” {"Like you did with us."}

“Ja.”

“Lars?”

Lars looked out at the bog. It seemed so green and peaceful. “ Okkarr jörðar eru svá ólíkr.” {"Our worlds are so different."}

Helga thought about that for a moment. She began asking Lars questions about which world he was from. Asgard was the world of the gods, and Midgard was the world Helga lived in. Lars was obviously not a dwarf from Nidavellir or a frost giant from Jötenheim. Perhaps he was from Alfheim, the world of the light elves?

“Nei, Helga, we are both of Midgard. When you sailed, seglinn, through the circle, hringr, you came to my part of Midgard, and now you cannot go back.” Lars was gesturing as he said this, mixing Old Norse with English. He had learned that while Helga was illiterate and ignorant, she was not stupid, and was learning a pidgin mix of English and Old Norse.

“Ja. Faðir said we came over Bifrost and Heimdall could not take us back.”

Lars nodded. Bifrost was the rainbow bridge between worlds, guarded by Heimdall. It made as much sense as time travel. “Ja,” he agreed. He thought for a second and said, “ Þú spyrjumk til hafminnr faðir mæli til þinn faðir, til ráða um mundrinn.” {"You asked to have my father speak to your father, to discuss the bride-price."}

“Ja.”

“Um ek liveð inn þinn jörð, þú munu munu konungsdottir, dóttirrinn ór rikkir jarl, ok minn faðir munu munu forvirki. Vér knáttneverr munu saman.” {"If I lived in your world, you would be a princess, the daughter of a great jarl, and my father would be a laborer. We could never be together."}

“En vér erum inn þinn jörð.” {"But we are in your world."}

“And in my minn jörð, we have no mundrinn, no bride-price. My faðir would not even know what we are talking about.”

That shocked Helga. “Þá hvernig megvérr munu saman?” {"Then how can we be together?"}

“It is different, ólíkr, here.”

“Tell me.”

That began a long and meandering discussion of modern Western dating practices. Lars started off telling Helga that if they were both back in Helga’s world, after their fathers had negotiated the various prices, Lars and Helga would have been married. “At er þeirráðr, réttr?” {"That is the plan, correct?"}

“Ja, Lars, vér munu fekk konu.” {"Yes, Lars, we would be married."} She giggled. “Munu ek njóta minn bruð-laup nátt? {"Will I enjoy my wedding night?"}

Lars rolled his eyes but ignored the question. “ Helga, þú haftíur-ok-sex sumar ok eru ór einn age til kvángask inn þinn jörð. Inn minn jörð, þú eru still kindr.” {"Helga, you have ten-and-six summers and are of an age to marry in your world. In my world, you are still a child."}

Helga looked shocked at that. “Kindre?”

“Ja. Þo, fólk lifa mjök lengr inn þessi jörð. Þinn faðir, er hann þykkja einn gamall maðr?” {"Yes. However, people live much longer in this world. Your father, is he considered an old man?"}

“Ja.”

Lars smiled. “ Inn þessi jörð vér munu kallhannr miþal- aldinn. Hann munu lifa langr œrinn til leika með hans dótturskindr.” {"In this world we would call him middle-aged. He will live long enough to play with his grandchildren."}

Helga giggled again. “Kná ek munu njóta minn bruð-laup nátt!” {"Maybe I will enjoy my wedding night!”}

“Ok, kinder gereigir dey sem kinder. Þeir lifa til þróask upp.” {"Also, children do not die as children. They live to grow up."}

“Góð.” {"Good."}

“Inn þessi jörð flestr fólk bíðlongerr til kvángask.” {"In this world most people wait longer to marry."}

“Lars, hvernig gerfólkr mote ok kvángask inn þinn jörð?” {"Lars, how do people meet and marry in your world?"}

With that, Lars talked about how couples met, whether in school or working, or perhaps in the market or a tavern. Then they would date, a concept which took some time to explain, for several years, after which they were betrothed and then married.

Helga made a strange face and asked, “ Þeir vóro hreinne allr at tími?” {"They were chaste all that time?"}

Lars blushed but knew that a medieval child in a farming community would have a much greater amount of knowledge concerning reproduction than the average American child. Doggie style meant something very practical when the doggies were doing it right in the street, not to mention horsey-style, bull-and-cow-style, goat-style, and so forth. He shook his head. “ Nei. Vér erum eigi hálfviti.” {"No. We are not idiots."} He shrugged. “ Þú skulu mæltilr Doris, en vér megkeepr fran gøra eivi heill.” {"You should talk to Doris, but we can keep from becoming pregnant."}

That stopped Helga in her tracks. “ Þú segðvérr, uh ... fólk megber ... saman ok eigi munu með kind.” {"You say we, uh ... people can be ... together and not be with child?"} Lars simply smiled and nodded, and Helga asked, “ Hvernig? Er þat eittsvat maðrinn gerir eðvífrinnr?” {"How? Is it something the man does or the woman?"}

Lars shrugged. “Mæltilr Doris.” {"Talk to Doris."}

Helga immediately hopped out of her chair. “Komár! Skynda!” {"Come on! Hurry!"}

Lars realized he had created a monster! He had no choice but to follow Helga, first taking their chairs back to the bunkhouse and then chasing after her. He found her in the hospital looking for Lieutenant Goodhew. Lars explained what Helga was so excited about, and Doris immediately began laughing at him. “I bet you wish we’d done this a few days ago.”

“Please, don’t remind me!”

“I can’t wait for you to explain this one to Daddy.”

“What? No! No way! Not me!” protested Lars. He was considering jumping through the time-travel disk to get away from Torvald.

Doris dug out some anatomy books and pulled up some videos on her computer screen, showing them to an amazed Helga. Some of the videos were extremely graphic, including the usage of a condom and the insertion of an intrauterine device. There was also discussion of the Pill and a few other methods, some that Lars had never even heard of. All of this made Helga very excited, and she promised to tell all the other women. Then she scampered out of the hospital, leaving Lars behind, shaking his head and looking at the nurse in disbelief.

Lars learned another old saying the next morning, one about how no good deed goes unpunished. Floki Tuvaman came up to him after breakfast and asked, “Hví gerði þú segja Unaeigir til hafeinnhverrr meiri kinder?” {"Why did you tell Una not to have any more children?"}

“Floki, ek hafeigir segðumk at til Una.” {"Floki, I have not said that to Una."}

“Unasegðumkr at þú tolð helgvérr skulu eigi hafkinderr?” {"Una said that you told Helga we should not have children!"}

Lars shook his head and smiled. “ Floki, minn vinr, ek munu æva segja þú eðeinnhverrr maðr eigi til hafkinderr. Hafþúr jafnan fregna mik segðslíkrr at. Ef þú ok Unaviljar kinder, hafkinderr!” {"Floki, my friend, I would never tell you or any man not to have children. Have you ever heard me say that? If you and Una want children, have children!"}

Floki gave Lars a confused look and glanced over to where Una was nursing her daughter and talking to the other women. “ Hvat eru þeir segja frá?” {"What are they talking about?"}

Lars explained, “ I gær, Doris tolð Helgatr verr ok kvenna megluggirr saman ánhafa kinder. “ {"Yesterday, Doris told Helga that husbands and wives can lie together without having children."} Lars told Floki some of what Doris had told Helga, and then told him to go ask Una and Helga.

Floki was rubbing his head when Lars finished. “ Helgerr ætlask fyrir ór þessi mit þér, já?” {"Helga is thinking of this with you, yes?"}

Lars admitted, “ Ek gereigir veit hverr ek em meiri hræddr ór, Helgeðar Torvalð!” {"I do not know who I am more afraid of, Helga or Torvald!"}

Floki laughed at that and went to talk to his wife and to tell some of the others about the magic of birth control. The rest of the morning people were asking him about it. He contemplated what sort of presentation Doris and Doctor Cooper could come up with. He would need a lot of ale before that presentation. Ale probably wasn’t going to cut it; LSD with a whiskey chaser would probably be required

Mid-afternoon Travis came looking for him. “I have some people and we should talk.”

“Why am I suddenly worried?” asked Lars as he stood to follow Travis.

Travis led Lars over to the office area. In the office that Travis had taken over were two men. Travis introduced them as Billy Turnbull and Joseph Hamish. “I recently worked with Billy to sort out the time travel issue. Mister Hamish I just met, but he’s with the University of Cambridge. They are here to talk to you about both the Vikings and you.”

“Uh, okay.” Lars looked at Turnbull and asked, “So what happened with the time travel stuff? What caused that?”

Billy smiled. “And what did Travis tell you.”

“Not much.”

“And we have covered that topic, haven’t we? Moving on, let’s talk about you. Travis tells me you have an amazing ability to speak different languages, that you speak half-a-dozen Germanic languages or more. Is that true?”

Lars nodded. “At least that many. I can’t explain it, but something just clicks in my head. I hear people speaking and it’s like something inside me simply... clicks! I can understand the language in a few days, quicker if it is nonstop.”

Travis said, “You told me back when we started this that your parents wanted you to go to college to study engineering or science, and that you weren’t thrilled with that. Have you given any more thought to what you want to major in?”

Lars shrugged. “Not really, at least not more than we talked about. No, science and tech don’t interest me at all. I’d like to do something with language, but they’re right that I can earn more in tech.”

Turnbull said, “Your parents are right, Lars, at least for ordinary people. You are not ordinary. Your language skills are beyond anything I’ve ever heard of. Mister Hamish represents the University of Cambridge, one of the finest English universities. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. We’ve talked to him about you. Cambridge is interested in you.”

Lars looked at the others and asked, “Really?”

Travis said, “Lars, our deal was for you to work for me for two or three months, and if things worked out, we would pay for two years of community college. Things worked out beyond all imagination. I ... we, would like to renegotiate our deal. The Vikings need you to stay on and continue being a translator. The Brits know what the worst could be, and they agree that you can help with the transition period.”

Hamish said, “Lars, Cambridge has made a deal with your current employer...”

“The CIA? You made a deal with the CIA?”

“Evil people that they are. Yes, we made a deal. It seems that maybe they aren’t as evil as some might think. For instance, they showed us your grades for your local college.” Lars looked at Travis curiously; the CIA operative just shrugged. “While the American and British educational systems are wildly different, those of us in the school business understand each other. If you agree to stick around and continue transitioning the Norsemen to modern English life, Cambridge is interested in enrolling you as a student. Between your courses at home and your demonstrated abilities with languages, you’ll have the equivalent of two years of university.”