Chapter 16: Choices, choices. 889AD

Scott hugged Lachlan to him, his joy at not having lost any time while he had been away quite overcoming him.

"Lachlan! My friend! I thought I had lost twelve years with you all. I've no idea how this has happened, what's changed, but I am relieved beyond belief."

"You mean you've been to the twenty-first century already? But I saw you enter the tent only minutes ago."

"Yes my friend, but I seem to have managed a whole year in the twenty-first century without losing any time. But come, I have many people here with me who are anxious to find out what has happened. You will need to speak English Lachlan."

Scott turned to the tent and held the flap back, ducking his head into the gap. He reverted to speaking English.

"My friends, all is well. Welcome to ninth-century Scotland."

He stood back from the tent and waited for those inside to come out. First out were his wives with the babies. They rushed to Lachlan and when Scott explained that they hadn't lost any time they almost wept with happiness.

Next out were Scott's parents.

"Mom, dad, can I introduce my great friend, Lachlan, Earl of Ayrshire. Lachlan, my parents."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you your majesties." Lachlan said as he bowed.

Scott's parents just stood, mouths gaping as the reality was beginning to sink in.

Next out of the tent was the Colonel.

"Colonel MacKelvie, meet Lachlan mac Lean, Earl of Ayrshire. Lachlan, Colonel MacKelvie."

"Well met Colonel." Said Lachlan as he stepped forward to clasp the Colonel's arm in greeting.

"Oh god, sweet Jesus, oh god, is it real Scott?" Moaned the Colonel.

"I promise you it's very real Colonel, now come, we need to get the rest of our newcomers out and figure out how to house them. I had hoped that our absence would have allowed my friends to build better infrastructure and more housing, but we appear to have returned at the very point I left so have lost that advantage."

The Colonel was just as dazed as Scott's parents and Scott could see that he wasn't going to be much help for the next wee while. Instead, Scott began to help the other newcomers out of the tent. He was still amazed at this; he had purchased a massive new tent so that everyone would fit in and from the outside here in Inveraray it looked just like his old two man tent. It was a bit like the Tardis in Dr Who, bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Strange!

The newcomers all began to emerge from the tent, looking around them and mostly looking stunned or nervous. Scott marshalled them and led off towards the hall-house. The St Andrew's day celebration was still underway and Scott's group's eyes were growing wider as they took it all in. As they neared the hall, people began to stare and the music and revelry died away.

Gabrain leapt to his feet and rushed forward.

"Scott what is wrong, I thought you were going back..."

His voice trailed off as he took in the clothes and glazed looks on the people who were with Scott.

"You've already been? And returned?"

"Yes my friend, and with the specialists we need. Now let me get the celebrations started again."

Scott turned to face the Inveraray people.

"My good friends. These people I have with me have come to help Scotland prosper. They are probably the most important people in the Kingdom, more important than all of us, aye, me included."

There was a growing rumble from the populace as if they disagreed with Scott's statement.

"You might not believe me now my friends, but over the coming weeks they will work miracles the like of which you have never seen. Believe me. Please make them feel welcome. You will have a chance to meet them soon, in particular the craftsmen amongst you. Now, there's a rumour that this is supposed to be a celebration, let's show our newcomers how we celebrate in Inveraray!"

This last brought loud cheers from the hall-house and Scott turned to see that some of the newcomers seemed to be translating for the others. He singled these out and confirmed they were fluent Gaelic speakers. Of the thirty or so people that had travelled with him, there were seven who 'had the Gàidhlig' (could speak Gaelic). He split the group up so that each smaller group had a Gaelic speaker and then helped them find spaces in the hall.

Scott took his wives, parents and the Colonel to sit at the top table, signalling for food and drink to be served. The music and singing started up again, a new buzz of excitement evident in the hall at the arrival of the newcomers and what this might mean.

The Colonel sat opposite Scott and it was clear he was starting to come out of the initial daze he had been in. His eyes were everywhere, taking in the detail of what was around him.

"You know, I don't think I ever fully believed. I can never thank you enough for this. You have made an old man happy, ecstatic!"

"You're not too old I hope! I'm glad you're happy Colonel, I thought you might be upset with me about the coins. That was a lot of money I took from you."

"Tchah! Think nothing of it Scott, I would have paid all of that and much more for this opportunity. Now you mention the coins, that's something of a surprise. I can see you have already achieved much in your time here, but that hasn't affected history. Now I see why you have come up with the parallel universe theory. But if this is a parallel universe how did you manage to get the coins to 'age' properly?"

"I buried them before I did the time-jump and then dug them up again once I arrived back in the twenty-first century."

"But if nothing else you have done has affected history, and this really is a parallel universe, how come the coins were there when you arrived in the twenty-first century? Nothing else has managed to last through the eleven hundred years."

"I know. I've been thinking about that for the last year. I've come up with a theory for that too, but I don't really understand it myself."

"Well tell me then, what's this theory?"

"I think the spot where the tent is pitched exists in both universes, it's like a bridge between them. I figure there needs to be a bridge otherwise we wouldn't be able to travel between the two universes. So, because the coins were so close to the tent they existed in both too and aged accordingly."

"A bridge? Well, I can see some logic in that. I guess there needs to be a link between the universes or as you say we wouldn't be able to travel between them. What about the fact that you didn't lose any time when you travelled this time? Do you have a theory for that?"

"No Colonel, I'm still trying to work that one out. It was a surprise, a nice one I've got to say, as it means I haven't missed time with my friends and my other two sons, but a surprise nonetheless."

Scott glanced round the table. His close friends could all speak English and they were engaging his parents and the Colonel in conversation. He looked over the remainder of the hall and could see that the newcomers were all enjoying themselves, ale, wine and uisge beatha clearly steadying them and removing some of their caution. He decided his return had gone as well as he could have hoped. He gave orders as to where the newcomers were to be housed for the moment and signalled to his wives that he wished to retire.

The next morning Scott knew the specialists would need some time to surface if the amount of alcohol they were throwing back was anything to go by. He called in on the Inveraray craftsmen and set in train a building project to create a living space for the newcomers. He also asked that a building be put up that would act as the first purpose-built laboratory. He told the craftsmen which of the specialists to speak to in order to agree the design of the lab.

He searched out Lachlan next, asking his friend to set out immediately to mount the raids into northern England they had spoken of before.

"Mind Lachlan, no great despoilation, just some captives from across the whole of the north and then hold them in Ayrshire over the winter. When they are released we can only hope they generate a workforce for us, a workforce we will have dire need of in the spring."

"I will ride immediately Scott."

"No Lachlan, take a ship, it will be quicker by days and the snows could come at any time so every day is critical."

Lachlan nodded his assent and hurried off to ready himself.

By lunchtime the specialists had all surfaced and Scott sent messengers to ask them all to gather in the hall-house. He and Gabrain walked there themselves in preparation for Scott's first planning meeting.

The newcomers straggled in in ones and twos, obviously nursing hangovers. Scott let them settle down and then addressed them.

"My friends, you now know that what I told you in Perth was true, you have travelled back in time and are really here in ninth-century Scotland. You each have much to offer our country, between us we can do fantastic things. I want you to take a few days to look around and acclimatise to your new surroundings and then we can meet to discuss how we intend to put your talents to work.

"I have set in train a project to build you accommodation for the winter. It makes sense for you to remain here at Inveraray for that time. I would like you all to undertake an intensive course in Gaelic so you can make yourselves understood. That will be your first project. I have also asked for a lab to be built and the scientists amongst you will have the opportunity to input to the design of that.