Time Leap (27 page)

“
Ready?” I
asked. The others nodded. I noticed there was a camper’s tent
around two hundred metres away – that would be a good test of
whether or not we had actually moved through time. I changed the
date to 4200 CE and we experienced the biggest wobble yet – it felt
like a small earthquake. It was all I could do to hold onto the
vehicle. When it was over, the tent had disappeared. But more than
that, the whole vista looked very different – mainly because the
car park below us was now a small lake. It was a good thing we
followed Smirnoff’s idea and moved the van. We grabbed a bag from
inside containing a camera, binoculars and a couple of Smirnoff’s
hand guns, and returned to the top of the hill. I stared at the
view in awe.

“
Oh–my–god!”
Nik exclaimed.

Where once buildings lay,
now only a vast expanse of water met our eyes. Pretty much the
entire city of Edinburgh had been consumed by sea.

“
It’s
amazing,” I murmured.

“
So where is
the capital of Scotland?” Smirnoff asked. “I’ve always wanted to
see it.”

“
Well if
you’ve brought your scuba gear, you probably still can,” I
replied.

“
The top of
the Castle is still there,” Nik observed excitedly. “It looks like
an island!”

Just the buildings were
still visible – seemingly floating on the sea.

“
What are they
over there – in the distance?” Niki was looking through her
binoculars and pointing at two towers standing out of the water
towards the West. I took the binoculars and stared where she was
pointing.

“
Oh! It’s the
Forth Road Bridge – what’s left of it.”

“
Let me see,”
Niki said, taking back the binoculars from my hands.

I remember the Bridge
used to be around a hundred and fifty metres high, and it looked
like there was about a third left above water. So the flood was
probably around a hundred metres deep. That was enough to submerge
all the city buildings – save those on Castle Hill.

The question was now:
where did everybody go? If Edinburgh had been flooded, it was
likely that other towns and cities in the region had suffered the
same fate. People must have headed for higher ground, assuming the
residents had time to escape the flood. It could well have been
gradual over time – sea levels had already been rising in our own
time with the effects of global warming.

“
Joe,” Niki
said, “I don’t get it. You said that the UK was tilting… London and
South–East England sinking, and North–West Scotland
rising.”

“
That’s
right.”

“
Then why is
part of Scotland under water?”

It was a good
question.

“
Well, for one
thing,” I replied, “we’re in the east of Central Scotland –
North-West Scotland should still be above water. I hate to think
what could have happened to London and the South East
though.

“
We should try
the mountains in The Highlands. If people are anywhere, they’ll be
there,” suggested Smirnoff. We both agreed with his plan – it made
perfect sense. The question was: how could we drive anywhere
surrounded by this vast expanse of water? The answer in the end was
simple – if you can travel through time. We returned to the van,
jumped back to the present, and then drove towards Stirling – the
gateway to the Highlands of Scotland.

***

Thirty–Nine

It was late by the time
we arrived in Stirling, but we managed to find a small hotel for
the three of us in the town centre. Smirnoff didn’t mind sharing a
hotel – he didn’t think he’d be known in this neck of the woods –
and after having a drink (or two) in the hotel bar, we said
goodnight and went to our respective rooms. We had a lot to think
about before travelling to the mountains the next day.

*

In the morning, Smirnoff
was nowhere to be seen, so Niki and I breakfasted alone.

“
Mmm… real
Scottish marmalade!” remarked Niki crunching her way through the
toast.

“
You’re really
not Chinese anymore, are you Nik? You’re supposed to enjoy congee
and baozi’s, not toast and marmalade.”

“
Do you think
they’ll still have haggis where we’re going?” she asked, ignoring
my quip.

“
And
deep–fried mars bars?” I suggested.

“
You never
know,” she said, walking over to help herself to more coffee. “But
I’m really looking forward to finding out what the people are like
in two thousand years’ time.”

“
Me
too.”

“
I mean,
imagine the technology they must have,” she continued, “what we
have will seem totally Neanderthal.”

“
We don’t know
that, Nik. With the floods, and whatever else will happen, society
might regress – retrograding to a cave–like existence.”

My mind turned to the
Russian.

“
I should look
for Smirnoff – I thought he was joining us for breakfast. Don’t you
think he’s different this trip Nik?”

“
He does look
different,” she replied.

“
Yeah, but I
mean his character… more distant.”

“
You worry too
much Joe – Smirnoff’s Smirnoff – he’s always like that.
Unpredictable.”

Maybe Niki was right, but
I wasn’t so sure. I looked around the hotel, and found him in the
bar. He was sitting talking to the barman – they were just the two
of them in the room.

“
Has he told
you what he does for living?” I asked the barman, indicating
Smirnoff.

“
Aye, he has –
he’s told me all about it, and I’m certainly interested. I might
just give him a call.”

“
Really?” I
replied, curious about what Smirnoff had told the man.

“
Aye, I’ve
wanted to put an extension on the back o’ the hoose for a wee time
now, and this gentleman might get some business from
me.”

“
Ready to go?”
Smirnoff asked me.

“
Ready as I’ll
ever be.”

We checked out of the
hotel, and Smirnoff insisted on taking the wheel for the drive up
to the Highlands. I suppose he wanted to earn his dosh. The journey
from our hotel to Callander was less than sixteen miles, and took
us thirty minutes to get there. We chose this town because it was
inland, 130 metres above sea level, and at the foot of a range of
mountains. So there was a very good chance it would survive the
flood. But, as Niki pointed out, the town in 2,200 years’ time
might be very different – if it was still there at all. It wasn’t
unusual for the River Teith to break its banks and flood the town,
so that was an ominous sign for the future.

From the town, you don’t
have to go far to reach the hills. We drove a little way out and
parked the van in a forest park, from where we could look down on
Callander. It was very much a picture postcard sort of town, with
really just one main street, and it had been used in various films
over the years. The buildings were either grey or red brick and the
tallest building was, by far, the local church.

We readied ourselves for
the jump again, taking what we thought we would need from inside
the van. Holding on the vehicle firmly, I shouted “Any last
requests?”

“
Keep us dry!”
shouted back Niki. Then we leapt forward.

*

Think about what
buildings can still be seen around the World from 2,200 years ago?
Really only Roman and Greek stone structures remain to this day,
albeit in a ruined state. Brick buildings rarely stand the test of
time. In Callander 4200 CE, we saw the time–decayed remains of what
we had seen two minutes previously, now swamped in what had been a
fast flowing river, but was now a sizable lake covering most of the
town. Clearly, no–one was living there now.

There was little point
investigating this area further, so we returned to the van and
drove towards the range of hills and mountains in the near
distance. So far, we had seen no evidence of human life in 4200 CE…
but that was about to change.

As we drove onwards and
upwards, the eerie silence felt a little disturbing. This part of
Scotland had always been a quiet part of the country, though in the
summer season you could be bumper to bumper with thousands of
tourists heading for the Scottish hills. Now, not even a bird sang.
But what was most noticeable, was there were no trees! I had
noticed the lack of foliage when we made the jump, but not thought
much of it. You’d expect a few changes after more than two
millenniums.

“
It looks like
Orkney,” Smirnoff observed.

“
You’ve been
to the
Orkney Islands?
” I exclaimed.

“
Sure, I did a
job there once. Inside an Indian Restaurant in
Kirkwall.”

“
That
was
you?
”

Smirnoff nodded and
smiled. “It was an unsolved case for twelve years after the job,
but then they framed a soldier – a Black Watch sniper. Why would a
sniper shoot a waiter at point blank range when he could have
picked him off from distance? It didn’t make sense.”

“
But that was
good for you, right?”

“
I always
cover my back,” the Russian replied.

This was the first time
he had discussed his work with us. Maybe he felt he was safer now
that we were in the year 4200 CE, where nobody could ever know
him.

What had been the A84,
the main road between Stirling and Loch Earn, was now no more than
a track – and a difficult track to negotiate at that. More like
driving across a very bumpy field than a road. I suppose akin to
some Roman Roads in England which were disused for centuries. So
the going was very slow. As Smirnoff drove, Niki and I kept our
eyes peeled for any signs of life – anything.

Then Niki saw something
which brought us to a sudden halt.

“
What’s that –
over there on the hill?”

She was pointing
excitedly at six or more towers on the top of a small hill. I
picked up the binoculars to take a look, but Smirnoff already seem
to know what they were.

“
Ventilation
shafts,” he said. “We used to use them in Russia for underground
bases for many years… you Brits too. Only ours are not so obvious.
We should be careful now – we don’t know what kind of people we’re
going to meet here.” As he was talking he pulled out an assault
rifle, two hand guns and ammunition from the back of the van. I’ll
go first and take a look – you two wait there
. I’ll be back
,” he said in his best
Terminator voice.

“
Don’t forget,
the natives
might
be friendly!” Niki called after him.

“
Better to
assume they’re not,” he replied without looking back.

We watched Smirnoff scale
the hill in a zigzag pattern, keeping his head low to the ground.
He was wearing what looked like SAS camouflage dress – I wouldn’t
like to meet him on a dark night in that gear. Soon he had
disappeared over the ridge of the hill.

“
What do you
think he’ll find?” asked Nik as we sat in the van waiting for news
from the Russian.

“
Dunno. I keep
thinking of comparisons between the Romans in two hundred BC and us
Ancient Britons. After the Romans left, there was no progress –
things deteriorated. What we call the Dark Ages. That’s what I
expect to find – people living off the land, fighting for
survival.”

“
Have you
noticed the air?” Niki asked.

“
What about
it?”

“
It’s not
good.”

“
Worst than
Shanghai?” I said.

“
A lot
worse.”

We waited an hour, then
another. After two and a half hours, I had had enough.

“
I’m going out
there,” I said.

“
It could be
dangerous – you heard what Smirnoff said Joe.”

“
I know – but
we can’t wait here forever. Look, I’ll set the phone ready to jump
back to 2015, so if I do find any trouble, I can get the hell out
of there.”

“
You’re not
going alone!”

“
It might be
dangerous.”

“
Oh, and it’s
safer for me in the car on my own? I’m coming with you – don’t
forget our arrangement!”

I had to agree that she
was right: I shouldn’t leave her on her own – we should stick
together. Neither of us was comfortable taking a gun with us, but I
did anyway – and Nik took a knife. Plus some waterproof clothing,
warm hats, gloves and two torches. Seeing as Smirnoff had taken the
main key to the van, I locked up with the spare. We’d no idea what
we would find at the top of the hill.

***

Forty

Breathless, we stood at
the top of the grassy hill. I wondered how Smirnoff had got up
there and then disappeared so quickly. He was clearly fitter than
both of us. The ventilation shafts, as Smirnoff had described them,
were in the form of circular tubes around three metres high, a
metre in diameter and made of some sort of baked clay. Once we were
at the summit of the hill, we realised it was not a pinnacle but
the top of a vast area that seemed to go on for miles. Ventilation
shafts were spread all over it.