Nebular Time Essay, Research Paper

Nebular Time

Log Date, 2490

We’re traveling past the new system Plutonomy at Warp 2. I have been informed that there is a new nebula forming past the 6th planet. They say there is valuable plasma gas inside. My plan is to be the first there to collect it all and sell it so I can stop wandering in space.

Log date, 2492

Two more days have passed and my co-pilot and I have been hearing about a race to be the first there. We are in the lead and shouldn’t have a problem getting there. I have also decided that I should get some new food on board. The coffee from the replicators is getting old.

Log date, 2495

The nebula is now in sight. George, my co-pilot, has decided that it will be best if we drop some of our extra knick knacks so we can hold more gas. I agree. Who really needs 1000 co-processors that are 15 years old?

Log date, 2499

Today we reach the nebula. I have decided to start collecting plasma.

END LOG

“George, if you don’t mind, hand me that extra co-linear compressor.”

“No problem, Captain,” he responded.

I have told myself time and time again that capturing gas is a stupid thing to do, but when you’re a vagabond like me, taking risks is what sets you free. George has said that he has gotten some strange electrostatic readings coming from this nebula, but we have ignored them. Right now we are working on compressing the plasma gas we have collected.

“Captain, come quick and look at this!” George yelled.

The readings are off the scale; it looks like some charge has gotten into our EPS relays.

“George, get back quick! It’s going to blow!” I screamed.

We both turned and………………………………………….I was abruptly awakened. I looked up and saw that I was in a shabby, square looking room. I could recall seeing something of this nature in my history book. Suddenly an odd looking lady walked in. I quickly said, “Hello, do I know you?”

“Ahhhh! Who, what… what are you doing in my house, lady?” she asked.

“First of all, I’m not a lady. My name is Mr. Jumpers, and if I knew what I was doing here, I would tell you. Just a few minutes ago, I was in my ship collecting gas,” I replied.

The lady stared at me and screamed, “Ok then, Mister. You’re in my house now, and I’m calling the cops on you!”

The cops? I had never heard of such of thing, but I thought that I was most likely in a place where I really shouldn’t be. It looked like I had traveled to some different place and time, but how? Oh yes, the EPS relays! I looked at myself and didn’t see any physical damage. Was I dead? I hit myself. No, I couldn’t be dead, it still hurt when I pounded my side. What was going on?

“All right then, whatever your name is, the cops are on their way,” she stated abruptly. Then, much to my surprise, she pulled out a phaser looking devise.

“How about if we make a deal? You don’t move, and I won’t shoot,” she suggested.

It looked like I really was in a bad situation. My mind automatically started to contemplate on how I could get out of this. I could try reasoning with her, but on second thought, I might have to use my flash bang watch to blind her. Then I could grab her weapon and use it to run out of wherever I was. Well, I thought, I’ll try the more diplomatic approach first.

“Excuse me,” I interrupted. Well, what should I say? Should I ask her what the year is, or better yet where I am. Should I explain my story? Will she laugh at me or think I’m trying to tell her a lie? Maybe she’ll fire her weapon. I continued on with the question, “Would you please tell me what today’s date is?”

“Today, dummy, is July 29th, 1999,” and, she continued, “as far as I’m concerned, it’s a great day for you to go to the slammer.”

Wow! 1999! I couldn’t believe it. I lived in the 25th century. Her statement helped me to realize that whatever charge had come through the EPS relay, it had sent me back, way back in time. Since I now knew what I was dealing with, I decided that it would be a waste of my time to try to talk my way out of the situation, so I just pretended to check the time, but instead, I hit the flash bang button.

“AHHHHGGGGRRRRGGG, what did you do? I can’t see!” she screamed, I quickly made a dash for what looked like the main door. I forcefully ran right into it. Lets just say that I didn’t realize that the doors didn’t automatically open like the ones I was used to. I had to peel myself off the floor after my encounter.

I then decided that it would be to my best advantage to try to use the handle on the door. That worked like a charm. The door swung open with a mighty lurch. I took one step through it to the outside. I couldn’t believe it. I was standing on the human’s world, earth! I personally had never gotten to go here before, but I had heard that it had turned into a smog ball and that the factories had teraformed every last millimeter of land. The air was thick and very humid. It was nothing like what I was used to breathing. I could tell how dirty this air was. In the distance I heard sirens. My instincts told me to run, run away from the sirens, so I did just that.

I quickly came to a large, rectangle shaped building. I could tell that this was a place to purchase nourishment. There were pictures of all sorts of food items in the windows. I decided to attempt to enter the building. To my surprise the doors opened by themselves. I was prepared this time to manually open them, but I didn’t need to. I was immediately hit with a gust of strong, cold air. I remember thinking that this must be their crude temperature control system.

The first thing I saw when I entered was a huge yellow smile. How weird, I thought. I wonder what purpose this serves? I proceeded into the complex. I then found myself reading what seemed to me to be an unusual name, Wal-Mart. What could this be? I looked around and saw more of that same word. It must be the name of the owner of the building, I decided. Maybe they wrote their name on everything that belonged to them back then, or now, should I say. I began to notice that the people inside this structure were dressed very strangely. I was also aware that there were many eyes and fingers directed at me. It suddenly hit me that I was dealing with an apparel issue. I needed different clothes in order to stop drawing attention to myself. I saw a rack of such items not far away. I went over and picked out a shirt to my liking and in my size. I had never seen such an odd way of displaying a product before. I was actually able to touch it. Hmmmm, it appeared to be an odd society. I took the shirt and the item holding it up and went to a secluded area in the complex to exchange it for the shirt that I was wearing.

Venturing further into the building led me to a new discovery, a large display case. It read “Always Coca Cola.” I moved closer to it and found all of the items in thin layers of paper like material. I decided to pick up the smallest unit. Hum, what should I use to open this, I thought. I know, maybe it is a unit of material code for the old type of replictors. I opened the outer layer and found 12 individual canisters inside. That discovery affirmed my thought. I was right. It was a material unit. All I needed now was a detractor. I ambled around until I found a row with what appeared to be crude detractors. They were labeled “Microwaves”. I thought this was an odd name. I placed the small canister inside the larger unit and on the control panel read the directions, 1 item, 45 seconds. So on the dash I pushed 45, then of course START. A light came on, which I thought was sort of neat.

The next thing I knew, the inside of the detractor started to spark, and the unit started to bulge. This is a very, crude way of doing things, I thought. Then the canister burst, and a black liquid shot out. The so-called Microwave was now sparking like mad! I attempted to shut the unit down. I placed my hand over the stop button and I noticed a bolt of the energy spring towards my hand and then……….

“George, get back!” I screamed. I had almost forgotten that my co-pilot was with me through all of this. We both ducked at the same time. The EPS relay didn’t do anything. We crouched there for a few more seconds until we suddenly got a signal from another ship in the vicinity.

“Captain Jumper”, a voice said out loud. “ We have had reports of this new nebula giving ships strange readings. We have concluded that it is a temporal time anomaly. We highly suggest that you back away and leave the area.”

“Thanks patrol ship. We’ll do that”, I retorted.

“Hey, George pack it up, we’re heading out.” I yelled.

“Hey, Captain, don’t you think it would really be strange if we were sent back in time?” George remarked. “ What if we were sent all the way back to the 20th century?”

Suddenly I realized that George had not experienced the happening as I had and I said to him, “You know, George, some day, some how, I would like to do that. I think it would be fascinating to see how people lived their lives in that time warp. For now, though, let’s get out of here!”