Chapter Four - The Cost
William's heart jumped at Martin's claim that he could bring Anna back. "I suppose if anyone could, perhaps this strange being has the capability..." William thought. Martin leaned forward ever so slightly in his chair and tilted his head, awaiting William to finish his thought. "You have an advantage over me, sir," William said. "I understand your concern William, however, this is the way my kind communicates. I have voluntarily attenuated the range of my ability to only include this room. Your thoughts are completely private everywhere else. I have no wish to intrude on your thoughts, it is merely a necessity," Martin said. "My kind... and what kind is that?" William wondered.
William felt even more awkward than before, and it seemed the harder he tried to hide any thoughts from Martin, the more he found himself questioning everything about him. The possibility, no matter how remote, of bringing Anna back helped to rein in his mind. "How can you bring Anna back to me?" William asked. "Actually, William, you played a great role in developing the technology that would enable such a feat. In the last 200 years, science has greatly improved our understanding of time and space." William listened intently as Martin went into great detail about the history and technology of time travel.
"If I understand correctly, you could pinpoint any date in Anna's life and transport her to this location, in this year?" William asked. "Generally speaking, yes," Martin replied. From what little William had theorized about time travel, he knew that he probably could not go back in time to Anna. Still, just in case, he had to ask: "Am I also correct in assuming that I cannot go back to Anna, say on our wedding day? After all, I suppose it would be problematic to have two grooms show up for the wedding especially when one is a much older version of the other." Martin let out an uncharacteristically human chuckle. "It is possible, with the proper precautions," Martin said.
William's mind immediately began calculating the optimal date at which he wouldn't be too far older than her, yet, would give them the maximum amount of time together before tuberculosis overtook her once again at age 42. He thought about going as far back as 10 years before her death but quickly realized it would be unfair to Anna to bring her unwittingly into a life where she would be married to a man 15 years her senior. He finally settled on 2 years, when she was 40. William was now 47.
Martin remained silent while William considered every option. "I cannot believe my good fortune! I would pay any price for even one more day with Anna." Williams said aloud. "I have more good news for you, William. There is no need to go back two years before her death, several days before her death would be sufficient. "What do you mean, sufficient? William asked. "Advances in genetic medicine now allow us to cure diseases such as tuberculosis with a simple procedure," Martin explained. "In fact, if not for the war, the average lifespan in 2088 would have been 102 years..." Martin continued. "War, what war? When... where?" William interrupted.
for the next 90 minutes, Martin did his best to explain the global nuclear war that had destroyed most of the world's major cities and military bases. William did his best to hold back tears as he heard about the utter destruction of nearly everything he knew and loved on the earth. He wondered if he was perhaps living in the Apocalypse that he had read about in The Book of Revelations. Had God done this or had mankind simply gone insane? He began to doubt whether or not it would be right to bring Anna into this kind of a world. "The war started four years ago. At first, it was a limited nuclear exchange. Within weeks, it quickly escalated into unrestrained world war as governments collapsed and radical factions seized, then launched their nuclear arsenals.
"When did the war end?" William asked. "It hasn't, the world is a very dangerous place. I will explain more tomorrow, for now, get some rest, you have a critical decision to make.
Next week: Chapter Five - War
