Viewer
Chapter 1
The apparatus juddered as Simon tried to adjust the leg to stop it rocking, he stopped and checked the equipment was alright before continuing more carefully than before. Once he was happy that it was level, he stood up to the controls again and savoured the moment.
This project represented fifteen years of his life. He had tested it in his workshop of course, so he knew it would work, but there was real history out here! He looked down at the path from the old stone bridge upon which he had set up. He knew that it had been a railway line before it had been a path and a canal before that, his excitement was almost un-containable as he imagined seeing it for himself.
He flicked the main power switch to on and was suddenly aware of a boy on a scooter watching him with great interest. Simon looked around and wondered how best to get rid of him politely. Nothing came to mind so he simply asked, "Can I help you?"
"What's that telly thing?" Came the abrupt reply.
Simon thought for a moment and then replied, "It's an experiment."
"Oh science...boring!"
"Science isn't boring, it's..." Started Simon automatically before remembering that he was in fact trying to encourage the boy to leave, and so changed tack,"...well yes, this is rather boring."
The boy just stood waiting to see what the instrument did. "What's your name, mister?"
"Errrm... Evans... Simon Eva... " He gathered himself, "Professor Simon Evans." He said slowly and deliberately, then, as a lame after thought, "Errm, what's yours?"
"'Arry. Why have you got a telly outside?" Asked the boy as he lifted his scooter a little further from the road as a couple of cars drove past and over the narrow bridge.
"It's not a telly...err vision, it's a...it's a..." He had never had to call it anything before and so hadn't got a name for it,"...it's a viewer!" He concluded.
"What's it do?"
Simon was sure now that the boy was here to stay, but could see no harm in demonstrating his invention, "I'll show you. It's warmed up now. This dial tunes the viewer to a different time before now." He gently rotated the dial and the trees seemed to move unnaturally but otherwise the only change was the number displayed on an LCD indicator which read, ' -000000:001.23'.
"WOW!" Exclaimed the youngster who had understood what the dial did immediately. He took control and sent the display to ' -000224:045.11' before Simon wrested it back.
"Gently! I mean - don't touch!" The viewer now showed a time when the canal had existed. A horse pulled a narrow-boat away from them and towards a tunnel that was no longer there in the present. Simon had been ready to admonish young Harry some more but the tranquil scene had them both spellbound.
"We done this at school," came an awestruck voice, "Wowwwwww!"
"It is rather wow, isn't it? Let's come a bit more up to date, there're a few moments I'd really like to see." As he eased the dial round, the boat sped off into the tunnel and the trees resumed their unnatural fidgeting. Another boat emerged from the tunnel. Simon slowed so that the men who had legged it through could be watched sitting up and getting off onto the towpath. They were met by a horse who seemed to have walked overland by itself.
"Clever 'orse, eh prof?"
"Yes. …Indeed, yes." The boy is sharp he thought, and had to admit that he was warming to him. He sped up the rotation of the dial again and the scene went dark for a few moments before getting light again.
"That was night, wasn't it prof?" Simon simply nodded, impressed again by the youngsters grasp of things. He turned the dial even faster so that night and day became a flickering on the screen and the LCD counter could no longer keep up with the days, and so displayed only blurs to the right of the colon.
"Whatcha looking for prof?"
"I've always wondered about the removal of the tunnel." The viewer was now displaying a time between canal and rail when the ground above the tunnel was literally being scooped out by navvies. He noticed with satisfaction that the earth was being used to fill the drained canal. They spent a good two hours working their way towards the present. Harry asked about going back further and particularly about dinosaurs, but Simon explained to him that the machine unfortunately had limitations and could not do that.
As they got near the present, Harry was intrigued to see himself on a couple of occasions, scooting along the path below. Simon indulged him a little and gave him control of the dial. Then the viewer came to a curious sight. They were both immediately aware that the goings on were suspicious, a couple of men appeared from a side track each carrying a holdall and ran towards them looking furtively about as they went.
"They're up to no good!" Commented Simon.
"Robbers!" Added Harry, wide-eyed.
Chapter 2
The car pulled up on the road behind them and Simon instinctively knew that this was different to the other passers-by who had stared for a moment and then gone on their way.
"Good morning sir, young sir. Some sort of photographic equipment?" Enquired the passenger on winding down the window.
Simon was about to agree when Harry piped up excitedly, "Are you coppers? We just saw some robbers!" The professor had wanted to stop him, but it was out before he had even thought how he could.
"Robbers eh!" Responded the passenger, "And where did you see them?"
"Down on the path..." Harry enthused and glanced over to the LCD display before continuing,"...one point four six days ago!"
Simon was not happy with the boy for divulging all of this but could not stop him now. He thought he might be able to pass off Harry's remarks as an overactive imagination.
"Oh, you'll have to ignore the lad, he gets carried away."
"Yes sir, some youngsters are like that aren't they?" He then returned his attention back to Harry, "Where were these robbers?"
The boy pointed while explaining precisely, "They came out of a path down there on the..."
"Right?" Helped the man in the car. Harry had clearly indicated as much, so he was hardly being led.
"...and then came running down here and under bridge - all sneaky and looking around and carrying bags full of....." He didn't know what, so his racing mind just came to a crashing halt.
Simon was trying to think how he could diffuse this again. He kept thinking, ‘what about the overactive imagination, you forgot about the overactive imagination!’
The man in the car continued, "We'll just pull up off the road over there, don't be going off anywhere." He flashed them a warrant card and indicated to the driver to pull away.
They were soon wandering back. The passenger was a short, stout, balding man and was tucking his shirt back into his suit trousers under his open jacket as he walked. The driver was much taller and also wore a suit, though much smarter than his colleague. The way he trailed behind told Simon that he was the junior officer.
Warrant cards were produced once more and the shorter policeman introduced them, "DI Jones, local police and DC Smith. We'd be very interested to know who you are and what you can tell us about these 'robbers' please."
Simon introduced himself and explained that he was once a physics lecturer at the local university, but had taken early retirement and now worked on his own projects. He also pointed out that he had only met Harry a few minutes before.
"So what about these 'robbers' then?" Enquired DI Jones.
"Oh," started Simon, "the boy's imagination. How could we know about something that happened two days ago?"
"That would have been my first thought professor, if we weren't investigating a very serious robbery, which happened the night before last, in that direction," he slowed to maximum sarcasm, "and we have CCTV of two men with holdalls just as young Harry here described. How could you know indeed?"
Simon could see that he was well and truly involved. It wasn't that he didn't want criminals brought to justice, or that he didn't want to help the police, he was just concerned that his invention was going to become big news and he would be dragged along with it. He had no desire to be famous. He had probably thought deep down that he would play with his viewer until he passed away and leave it to science in his will or something. "You have to promise to keep my work secret." He ventured.
"Do I sir?" Jones replied sarcastically.
"What I meant was - PLEASE will you keep my work secret?"
Jones thought for a moment and all eyes were on him. "I'll do my best, that's all I can promise."
"Thank you. I just don't want it announced too early."
"I understand sir. Now, what did you see?"
Harry, who had been quiet for some time, resumed his enthusiastic commentary, "The professor’s viewer shows you what happened in the past and it showed the robbers running along the path....."
Jones interrupted him, partly because he hadn't grasped the concept of the viewer, "Thank you Harry, that's great, but perhaps the professor should explain what his gizmo does so that we can understand what you saw."
"Yes." Started Simon as he positioned himself in front of the viewer, the others leaning in and craning to see better, "It works, as far as I can tell, by detecting emotion. It seems that any emotion leaves a sort of, mark, in the errrm...air. You have to understand that I'm still researching this. I can detect it and display it. I can even measure it and make a rough estimation of when it was laid down, though that is subject to the strength of the original signal, errm, emotion!"
Harry, who was still picking this up much faster than the policemen, piped up again, "They're like ghosts!"
"Yes!" Simon responded, "I've thought the same myself. I would love to experiment on someone who is sensitive to these imprints. I think it could explain a number of strange sights and why people don't see ghost cows or dinosaurs and why it's generally regarded that ghosts are of people who died in extreme circumstances."
DC Smith spoke for the first time, almost a surprise, "Why wouldn't a cow or dinosaur become a ghost?" He asked.
"Well, I believe, and the evidence seems to support the idea, that the strength of the emotion determines the strength of the imprint on the landscape. Cows don't have particularly emotional lives and so don't leave much of an imprint, dinosaurs probably did, especially imprints of fear I should think, but the traces fade with time so there's not much of them left. This equipment is more sensitive than even the most ....ummmm …gifted person, but it would need to be much more so to see a dinosaur."
DC Smith continued, "So am I right in thinking that you have seen the two suspects, in the past, with this.... viewer, and could see them at any point on their getaway! We could just follow them to their present whereabouts could we?"
"Well the equipment's not very portable." Worried Simon.
"I'm sure we could manage it between us." Jones suggested, "What's there to it, the viewer itself, the battery and the stand. If Smith carried the battery could you manage the viewer? I'm assuming the stand is just a convenient way of keeping them together."
"I suppose that could work," answered Simon, "I'm glad I've got the viewer, it's half the weight of that car battery, sorry Smith." The younger detective gave a shrug of resignation.
They spent a few minutes re-watching the events that Simon and Harry had witnessed, and the policemen were satisfied that they were in fact the criminals that they were chasing. They then had to decide what the best course of action was. As they'd continued under the bridge upon which they were standing, they had to move the viewer to see where they went next. A quick glance back informed them that there wasn't a footpath on the other side of the road so they were forced to carry the viewer down onto the path itself. The stand was a liability in 'mobile' mode, and although Simon had no problem carrying the viewer, he could not operate the control at the same time. The battery had its own set of problems. As well as being heavy, it was not easy to hold and the cable connecting it to the viewer was restrictively short. They struggled with different arrangements, Jones holding the viewer while Simon operated it, Harry holding the viewer. Smith always got battery duty unfortunately but no convenient method was found. Simon eventually called a halt to the experiments and insisted they go back to his workshop where he could make something to do the job. Also, the battery needed a re-charge.
Chapter 3.
A couple of hours later they were all back at the bridge having gone their separate ways while Simon sorted out a mobile configuration of his viewer. He had adapted an old back-pack to carry both the viewer box and the twelve volt battery beneath it. This meant that poor Smith had to carry both while the others followed him round trying to adjust and/or see it. It did work very well though except that Smith couldn't see the screen which was not only frustrating for him, it also meant that he had to be guided by the others as to which way he should face.
They positioned themselves under the bridge, Smith facing in the direction it was expected the crooks had continued and Simon adjusted the controls until he found them.
"There they are!" Exclaimed Jones, "What time was this... errrrm that?" Reaching for his notebook.
"About minus one point eight days!" Replied Simon, "...but remember this is approximate, though it won't be far out actually as it's not far back."
"Right. Well I think we can estimate it pretty well from all the evidence." Said Jones. "OK Smith, after them!"
Smith started forward as he had little doubt that this was the way to go but had to remind them that he couldn't see the crooks they were chasing.
Simon was a bit hit and miss on the controls when moving but quickly learned to tweak the dial a little at a certain point in Smiths stride. They progressed along the path rather awkwardly. Every so often Simon would have to tweak the dial on because the crooks were outrunning them. They followed them off the main path and onto a small track. It was then that young Harry pointed out something that had escaped them all.
"If we can't keep up with them, we're never going to catch them!"
They all had to digest this. One by one they realised that just because you could wind the viewer on to see them again, didn't bring them closer in reality. Just as in a real time chase, if you couldn't keep up - they were getting away!
DI Jones thought about this for a while but could see no solution. Then Smith spoke up, "I suppose we have to go along with this until we learn something that enables us to leap forward...."
As the others could think of nothing better, they had to agree that it was the best thing to do. They resumed their 'chase'.
At some point along the path, the ‘robbers’ strangely decided it was time to change out of their overalls and boots. They stuffed these into a plastic bag and then into one of the holdalls after taking out two pairs of shoes which they put on before continuing on their way.
They came to a small industrial estate. It was fully fenced off, and in the present, being a Saturday, it was also locked. At the time the ‘robbers’ had got here, the gates were open and they ran straight in. Now though, they were shut and chained. Smith was painfully aware of this as he was being pushed into them by the three who were navigating by the viewer only. Eventually they listened to his complaints long enough to look up from the screen and see for themselves that the way was blocked.
After a few moments, DI Jones decided, “OK. We can still see where they went with the viewer. Smith, face the gates!”
He did as he was ordered and Simon adjusted the dial so that they could see the pair enter one of the units in the estate. Half an hour or so passed that Simon fast forwarded through, then the two men appeared again with one of the holdalls. They started a fire in an old oil drum that was perforated down its sides for the purpose. When it was burning well, they tossed in the holdall and poured on some fuel from a can for good measure.
In the present, the drum was still there. It was rusty now as much of the blue paint had been burned off. It could also be seen, even from this distance, that it was virtually empty, as daylight could be seen straight through the couple of holes that happened to line up from this angle.
“They’ve been careful not to leave any forensic evidence of their visit to the crime scene!” Commented DI Jones.
Simon fast forwarded again at a rate where they could still pick up if anything worth seeing happened. DS Smith was constantly asking what was going on. Occasionally they would have to turn him back to face the gates as he turned while trying to see the screen.
Eventually a large black saloon car drove out of the factory unit and towards them.
The three who were watching the screen instinctively darted to the side of the road and tried to hide.
DS Smith looked at them with some confusion.
“Get off the roa…..” Called Jones in a loud whisper.
“Wha…?” Replied Smith.
Jones realised at this point that they had jumped out of the way, and were hiding from, a car that had gone past them nearly two days ago. “Doesn’t matter!” He said.
Smith, still confused, continued to ask, “Why….?”
“Doesn’t matter!” Interrupted Jones more forcefully.
Smith knew not to push it any further and just watched the three of them pick themselves up, brush themselves off and straighten their clothes, wondering what the sense of mild embarrassment might be about.
“Right!” Exclaimed Jones, tucking in his shirt, “Back to the car!”
Chapter 4.
They arrived back at the locked gates, this time in the plain police car. Smith driving, Jones in the front passenger seat, the professor in the seat behind Jones with the viewer on his lap, Harry behind Smith and the battery on the seat between Simon and the youngster.
Jones drew breath to give an instruction, but was beaten to it by the professor.
“Down there and next left.” He pointed.
Smith got the car heading in the right direction and Jones just exhaled his breath and waved in the same direction to confirm. The ‘chase’ was back on, and continued with Simon instructing Smith where to turn. Harry peered over to the screen to see what he could see, and occasionally had to support the battery if the car went too quickly round a corner. This he had to do one handed as he was holding his scooter under control with the other hand.
Presently they came to a pub on a busy street and Simon called out, “In there, into the pub car park.”
“Wait!” Ordered Jones, and Smith brought the car to a swift halt. “We don’t know if they’re still here.”
They were stopped - in the middle of the road - and wondering what to do next.
The professor was dialling forward trying to see if the crooks had come out yet.
Jones studied the scene and concluded that they could not see into the car park, so he indicated to his sergeant to pull up to the kerb where they would be less conspicuous.
Once this was done, he looked back at the concentrating professor to wait for a verdict of some sort.
Simon became conscious of this and so stated what he knew so far, “I haven’t seen the car come out yet…. wait, here it is, they‘re out.” He made to open the door but was stopped by Jones again.
“Wait! …..We still need to approach this carefully.” He said thoughtfully, “They probably met someone in there and we don’t know if they are still in there.”
All eyes were on the detective as he pondered their next move. Then he continued, “We will look in the window with the viewer. It won’t look too conspicuous in the backpack, especially from inside. We can hopefully identify the contact or contacts and then see if and when they leave.” After a short pause to run it through in his head once more, he ordered, “OK! On with the backpack sergeant.”
After a few moments sorting themselves and the viewer out, they were ready.
Jones gave a few directions to ensure they all knew the plan, “You professor, set the viewer to a time when we think they are all inside. Smith will walk in front and when he is next to the pub window he will stop and turn to face it. We will casually clock the viewer screen to see if we can see in. I will cough to indicate when we continue on and we will all meet up over by that green car to review things and decide what we do next. All clear?”
They all nodded and Smith proceeded with his part of the plan, followed by the others. As soon as they were in position to view through the window, it seemed that the two men were sitting at a table by themselves so Jones gave his cough and they all moved off.
By the green car, Jones summed up their findings. “Nothing yet. They were by themselves at that particular moment. They had either met the contacts already, had yet to meet them, or…..they are just having a quiet drink!” He Said.
“We need to view the whole visit. “ Simon offered.
To which Smith replied, “Yes, but we’re a bit obvious that close to the window if any of those people still inside are the contacts.”
“Yes,” began Jones, “we would be less conspicuous if we were inside and paying customers. Drink anyone?” And he strode off to the entrance.
Inside, they found seats where they could see the table at which the two men had sat. Simon now had the viewer on his lap with the battery under his seat. Smith took their orders and went to the bar for four colas. The two policemen being on duty, Simon didn’t really drink at this time of day and Harry was obviously under age. By the time he got back with the drinks, the other three were starting to conclude that all the robbers had done was have a drink by themselves too. They had sat at one of two tables in the middle of the room, their backs to another man at the second table. Jones did notice though that the tables were closer then than they were now. In fact, he remarked, they were a little too close for comfort if the two robbers and the lone man were strangers.
He was also becoming aware that they were attracting some attention in the present. Three men and a young lad frowning at what would be assumed by anyone not knowing it, to be a television or computer monitor of some description. He decided to make it look like it was just that, and pointed and laughed to make it seem like they were watching something amusing. The other three looked at him like he was mad, and so the effect didn’t work. In fact it looked even odder now.
“I was trying to make it look like a computer or something! “ He whispered. Then he saw something on the viewer, “Did you see that?” He exclaimed a little too loudly.
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