Welcome to the Galaxy

Fast Travel

The next few weeks passed quickly. The Electurnum finished transmuting and he setup a new batch of Silanium. He forged the Electurnum over he next week. It was a large batch and getting it broke into small tokens for use as fuel took time.

He used Helga’s skills a lot too. Money was a necessity. Without digging into his dwindling gold reserves, he wouldn’t be able to eat. So he got a job working at a tavern cooking meals. 

It took three months before both batches were finished being processed. He had used the money earned as a cook to stay fed and buy some more materials for crafting dresses. Helga traded the dresses for more dry goods and traveling supplies. The new coins of this nation were not much use for transmuting.

He had been stuck here far longer than he wanted this time around. Now he was getting ready for his next jump. The next jump was a test. He was using the new fuel with his rebuilt device. If something went wrong this might be his last jump. The technology in the area was more advanced than when he was reborn. It was still a far cry from being useful. A few hundred more years and he might actually be able to build a spaceship.

Helion could create any number of devices and sell it. He just needed to make sure the civilization was on par with what he was going to give them. History of Science of one of his favorite subjects in school. 

Photogenic memory was common for his native race, the Calinar. In the last ten thousand years only one percent of the population was born without it. They weren’t allowed to breed either. They fixed the genetic defect so those individuals could function in society. They were neutered during the same medical procedure to prevent the spread of the defect. Getting through school required perfect memory. Even living without creating anything new required vast amounts of technological knowledge.

With his memory of scientific breakthroughs, he could easily advance this world into the space age. He wasn’t interested in doing it. That would have other races come and retrieve him. That would lead to his death and ruin his family. He hated this life but nothing was worth destroying his family’s happiness.

Helion returned to the cave. He repacked his gear and added some of the gold to his pack. The pack was pretty heavy with all his metal fuels. He wasn’t keen on leaving all of it. His transmuted metals were too advanced for this world and he had to keep them safe. He couldn’t risk them being discovered while he traveled to time.

His transmuting box was nothing special. It was just a lead box. Without knowledge on how to transmute stuff it was useless. Helion put in into one of the hidden stashes all the same. Acquiring the materials had not been easy as it was. He didn’t want to lose it and didn’t have room to carry it.

As crazy as it might be, Helion picked his moment to offer a silent prayer for protection to the God of this world. Then he press the activation button on the device. Time seemed to stop. Then it looked like a strobe light flashed for an eternity. It picked up speed at first. Then it seemed to be flashing once every nanosecond. For a few seconds it was unbearable to watch, but he was unable to close his eyes. A few seconds more saw it slowing down again thankfully. His body seemed frozen in time. Next time he would close his eyes before he pressed the button.

The flashing finally ended. It seemed like a long time had passed. His eyes were dry and it took a few minutes to collect his senses again. The flashing seemed still visible with his eyes closed. The cave was still secured. That had not changed this time thankfully.

He opened the door a c***k. The cave was darker than it had always been before. He looked around and discovered the mouth of he cave had fallen down. Most of the entrance was blocked and only small amounts of light were able to penetrate to light the cave. 

Helga crawled up to the top of the mound. Digging out was about survival. She dug her hands deep into the soil and rocks near the light pulling as much into the cave as she could. It took a few hours but the light burst through the opening she had created. The small tunnel was just big enough to crawl out of. She stuck her head out of the hole and saw bodies littering the ground. Some where wearing blue and white uniforms and others were wearing red and white. A few gunshots rang through the air on occasions. He could see what he knew were ancient cannons. The smoke of black powder muskets was unmistakable in the air.

He had moved a decent amount of years this time. Swords, pikes and spears had still be in common use before he jumped. That was good news for him. He could use a barrel of black powder as a base for rocket fuel. As normal he would need other stuff but, it was easier to get. Lard and fuel oils wouldn’t be to difficult to get. Making the tanks and nozzles would be harder. A gunsmith would be able to crafting them easy enough. Knowing what he was making them for would be another issue.

Helion returned below ground again. The roof of the cave was still stable enough. Getting out again wouldn’t be an issue, waiting for the battle to end would be a lot safer. It might even be possible to go out at night and raid the battlefield. Metals and black powder would be a premium. A ship would require a lot of metal. 

He had another option he could try, before he went for making a ship. Making a transmitter required a lot less material. The nun’s habit might be useful. He could pretend to be a nurse. He cut up some his fabric into small swaths bandages. 

He crawled out again at dusk. Wandering the battlefield and checking for wounded. Every soldier had bayonets that easily fit into Helga’s purse. She pulled loads of coins and jewelry off the dead bodies too. He bandaged up wounded men as he went. He had to make several trips to dump his riches and gather more bandages.

He couldn’t tell what all he was getting in the dark. He wasn’t the only person on the battlefield either. Most were family members looking for their loved ones. Some were nurses and doctors. It provided more cover for his activities. He was stopping a lot of bleeding, so he didn’t feel bad getting paid for his work. The smaller wounds he stitched up with his needle and thread. 

By dawn he was covered in blood. His hands were red up to the elbows. It was on his face too. He did not understand why they had been killing each other. In the morning, soldiers from the blue side walked out on the field again. He had stopped looting when it started getting light out again. He had gone through all of his fabric and had torn up all his dresses.

At some point his focus had shifted from looting to trying to save lives. He had heard about wars but being on a battlefield made the horror real. Now he understood why they were terrible. He had done everything he could to save lives. The emotional nature of this body had caused him a lot of grief. He had cried more than he had ever. His Calinar nature was not a highly emotional one. His people embraced knowledge and intellectual pursuits. Their emotions were in check at all times. This body did not allow that. He felt fear and loss along with all the other emotions.

He stumbled to the creek and dove in. His dress was covered in blood too. He spent hours scrubbing the blood away, naked in the creek. He crawled to the shore and laid naked on the bank. He was emotional exhausted. The sun was bright and warm and sleep claimed him.