Ship Trap. Chapter 1: Debriefing

His wristwatch beeped, signaling the end of his jogging time on the treadmill. Removing his ear buds, he turned over towards the person standing on the treadmill next to him.

“Hey Sam, what’s the assignment for today?”

“As much as you think you enjoy these, I got a big feeling that you’re going hate this one.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, it’s not just where you’re going, but when you’re going to be there.”

“Couldn’t be worse than the assignment you guys gave me when I was sent to Indiana’s steel mills during the height of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.”

“Hey, we already said that we’re sorry for that mishap. We realized that Anderson should’ve been sent in your place instead.”

“So, is this an assignment that would better suit Anderson instead of me?”

“Well, not necessarily David.” Sam opened the file and handed David a black and white photo. “This time you may actually be the only person capable of convincing this man to go along with you.”

Staring at the picture rather queerly, David thought to himself, “I know that I’ve seen this picture before, but where was it?”

He spoke up, “Okay Sam, I’ll bite. I’m currently drawing a blank, jog my memory for me please.”

“Well, remember how I said that you’re not going to like it?”

“Out with it already man. Geezus, if you keep procrastinating on me I’ll have to report you to human experiences for violating TIMWOOD protocol.”

Flipping thought the pages of the folder, Sam pulled out a second photograph and handed it to David.

Now having both of them in his hand, he thought. “An old ship? No, it’s a cruise liner. Either this ship must be pretty significant, or this entire family is. Why am I drawing such a blank?”

“Need some help?”

“Yeah,” David nodded, “just who exactly am I saving this time, or should I ask what?”

“Excellent question David,” Sam piped up. “You see that picture there is of the SS France. Based upon historical data it was in commission for twenty-four years.”

“And so, what’s the connection with them?” He flashed the picture of the family towards Sam.

“Well, the unity of this family helps to solidify part of this organizations’ continual guidance, and the timeline’s further development?”

“Wait,” David looked at him, “so this is another case of timeline cessation?”

“Exactly,” Sam pointed towards the gentleman in the picture, “without this man’s expertise other notable names in Nobel Prizes, engineering, science, and physics would never have been invented towards this current era and helped us to further our timestream.”

“So that’s why things have been feeling so stale lately? I thought I was having major cases of Deja-vu and amnesia, but it just turns out that we’re hitting another time dam? Goodness, for a moment I thought I was stuck in the Matrix.”

“Well, when it comes to a matrix, we are confined to the fabric of time itself, but right now the stream is jammed. Remember the Y2K bug that sent the entire world in a state of panic?”

“Yeah.”

“That era of history was a time dam. The stream turned into a mere trickle. It could barely go any further at the rate it was. So, a team of our best coding engineers was sent back in time not to take the place of notable people, but to be their professors. Beforehand you could say that yes, it was just like the Matrix where people kept being stuck in the same year, the same time, the same epoch.”

“Okay, so why is this man so important to us?”

“That man’s name is Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, and he’s an engineer just like you.”

“Yeah, but it’s obviously he’s my senior in this photograph. Dude’s got a wife and kids and everything.”

“Well, not entirely everything, David.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that all that he has in this photo, his family, he has to give up in order for them to survive?”

“Sam, please enough of the waiting games. What did this man do?”

“He went down with the ship.”

“The SS France?”

“No, the Titanic.”

“That’s why you were hesitant to say anything. So, like everybody else, it’s only right to assume that only the women and children of the elite nobles were saved?”

“Yes, luckily for him both of his daughters along with his pregnant wife survived the sinking by getting onto a lifeboat.”

“Alright, so what’s the objective? I’m assuming like always that there’s parameters with this. So that we won’t have to excessively course correct.”

“I’ll let Peterson give that to you in his office. Plus, Mallory’s been waiting for you as well.”

“Really, so you weren’t debriefed on this before?”

“I was just told to not tell you about the water.”

“You know I can swim right. My form’s better and faster than any Olympian from the past three decades.”

“David, it’s not a matter of if you can swim, it’s a matter of if you can survive the water’s coldness. You’ll enter hypothermia quickly, but not quick enough to stop your heart. You’ll wish to have a bullet aimed at your head.”

“No doubt, with the iceberg there it’ll be like I’m sitting in a long island iced tea, only with extra ice. Alright Sam, should I see them right now or shower up first?”

“I can relay that information to them. I’ll have them inform you in the cafeteria. Any request you’d like to make specifically?”

“Yeah, if you’re going to order for us, I’d like a taco-salad with extra jalapenos, please.”

“No sour cream?”

“No sour cream.”

“Got it.”

“You know me too well.”

“Well, that’s what happens when I have to debrief you on an excursion like this. A well fed and rested traveler, makes for an easier travel altogether.”

Turning to face one another, as they locked eyes, they gripped one another’s hands firmly before they both said, “I’ll see you in time.”