SEVENTEEN!

“Time travel…It's expensive, it's dangerous, and the damn regulations, the damn three-L’s of 2085 don't allow you to alter the timeline in anyway…but in order to prove the multiverse theory, it must be done!” Patricia Waack bellows at Elouise Priestley. Patricia is yanked to the ground and handcuffed by the security guards. Red lights still flashing and alarms blaring. “It’s 2179 for Christ’s sake, we should have gotten something by now!” her voice echoes as the doors remain open and she’s dragged out, down the corridor.

FOURTEEN!

Time travel is indeed expensive, and it’s dangerous, it’s all true what she said, but the regulations are there for a reason. More officers continue to pour in and start to handcuff the teary-eyed Brandon Orkin for being an accomplice. George Robertson still stands in disbelief, holding his hand to the glass of the time pod that encapsulates Elouise.

ELEVEN!

This bold brave soldier has dealt with plenty of tough decisions, but right here, right now, he has no clue what to do. He continues to mumble, “I’m sorry Rosie…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…Oh, my sweet Ellie, there’s no way to undo this…I’m so sorry.”

NINE!

“You’re smart, you’re brave…you can make it.” He says sweetly with tears streaming down his face, backing away from the time pod, turning his back to her cries.

SEVEN!

Elouise shouts and bangs on the glass, pleading for someone to do something, everyone in the room still in stunned silence. She falls to her knees, coming to reality of what her predicament entails.

FOUR!

“At least tell Jacob and my family I love them…and won’t forget them.” She says with a sorrowful look. Taking her position, crossing her arms for the descent into the past. Only this time, instead of the actual needed year of 2102, she is passing the threshold going to 1202.

ONE!

Everyone holds their breath as the time pod shines bright from the rotating boom and finally the long waited green flash and signature pop, Elouise disappears.

She instantly feels the buzzing of the air. The static causes the fly away hairs to stand on end, she feels intense burning on her skin. The thinly lined metallic wingsuit scorches her back as it catches fire, causes her to gasp. Elouise starts to unfasten her belts to rip her flaming suit off as well as patting the flames to put the embers out. The time pod starts to wobble. “This doesn’t feel right, Brandon done something else, this never happens…” she thinks to herself while continuing to put out the embers. “…but then again, we’ve never traveled this far back in time, something is bound to happen.”

The burning material starts to melt onto her skin, she cries out in pain, the smoke filling the cabin, “Oh gods, I’m going to die! The platform isn’t there.” Ellie reflects to herself.

2085 is important. The legal limits law was made for this exact reason. It’s when the platforms were first constructed to catch the time pod from a time leap such as she is in the process of doing. Without the platform, the pod has nothing to enter on and will spiral out of control.

Something else isn’t right, beyond the dimming lights of the pod flickering off one by one, she sees fog outside…no not fog, clouds! The height is way over reached. The pod starts to rattle as it was not made for elevations this high up, “Oh gods no they didn’t!” Elouise glances over and sees the countdown of the overridden system showing detonation of the pod is predestined in forty-seven seconds.

Finally, the embers go out on the singed suit. “I still need the wingsuit” Elouise thinks to herself putting it back on the best she can. Falling to the side wall panel, she tries to manually override the system, but the key code card malfunctions and is not accepted in the system.

FORTY SECONDS LEFT TO DETONATION!

Coughing from the smoke, Ellie screams out, “Damn you Patty, I knew you didn’t like me, but why go this far!” She pounds her fists onto the control panel. Elouise needs to escape the pod, and the only way to do that is in midair fall. “But at this height and spiral I’m bound to pass out.” She frantically pulls at and pushes buttons, flipping switches, even though she knows it’s no use. Pulling panels off and ripping wires out, her hands start to get cuts. Screaming in frustration.

THIRTY SECONDS LEFT TO DETONATION!

Leaning her head against the wall and starting to feel nauseous from the spinning. Her bloodied back burns and aches. Tears dried to her face. The pod starts to tilt upside-down, that’s when she sees it. She’s over water! There’s still an opportunity of her surviving, but only if the water is obviously deep enough. “I just can’t pass out…I can’t pass out, that’s the only way.” Elouise’s adrenaline is rushing, causing her to not think straight, but time is running out. She takes a deep breath and wraps her hand around the emergency handle and pulls. But nothing happens. She pulls again, nothing. “What else did they do to sabotage this mission?” She thinks as she looks around the lever

TWENTY SECONDS LEFT TO DETONATION!

The pod continues to rattle, it bounces her onto the floor again. She sees the outer shell starts to break apart, the water ever nearer. Elouise lays on the floor in stunned disbelief finally finding the cause to the lever not working. A padlock on the bottom. “She really wants me to die in here”, she thinks laying sobbing against the wall she’s crawled to. That’s when she feels it, a slight breeze across her hand coming from the vent. Of course, the hatch to the hydraulics chamber!

TEN SECONDS LEFT TO DETONATION!