Time's Relative

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Through the canyon wall, she saw a refraction of light. A shiny object was wedged between two orange rocks. She hoped it was the disk. She scrambled up the hill, nearly losing her footing as she hurried forward. She felt time pressing against her, its heavy weight holding her back as she took each higher step. At the top of the hill, she paused, looking down from the dizzying height at the pebbles that had slid to the bottom. She felt like one of those pebbles – that at any moment she might fall to her fate, an insignificant digression in time’s path.

She forced these thoughts from her mind as she reached for the glowing object, sheltered between the two highest rocks. Her fingers brushed the tiny buttons while she carefully removed the disk from its lodging. She held her breath when the time-travel apparatus slipped into her cupped hands. She knew she had to destroy it.

She could toss it down the hill hoping it would break upon impact with the ground below or knock it against the rocks surrounding her until its microchips shattered into harmless pieces. She only knew she had to act soon before her stalker caught up with her.

The disk felt suddenly pounds heavier as she raised it toward the rock from where she’d extracted it. The first blow made a tiny dent on the left side, the second cracked off part of the turning wheel. Buoyed by newfound momentum, Sam pounded the disk against the rock until pieces of it flew off, one cutting into the side of her palm. Bleeding from the wound, Sam didn’t stop.

The final blow Sam administered to the tiny machine caused her to stumble backward. She dropped the broken disk as she fell, grabbing one of the rocks she’d used as a foothold on her way up the hill. Her right hand was bleeding badly now as the rock she grasped tore open the scratch from the disk. As she groped her way to a standing position, she felt a tremor ride up the hill. Had her fall dislodged enough rock to cause an avalanche? It would be ironic if she dies trying to save her future.