The Didymus Contingency by Jeremy Robinson Read Free Book Online Page A

Money: gold and silver in moderation would probably do. Some padded sandals…and a disguise for the watch.
    David decided he would take a test trip into the past. He thought it would be best if he witnessed first hand the event that drove his partner and best friend to risk changing the past to prove a point. He had to see it for himself. He had to understand. His mind was made up.
    He was going to Zambia.

—FOUR—

    The Fall

    1985
    2:02 P.M.
    Zambia, Africa

    An unfamiliar cracking noise filled the jungle, causing birds to jet away to the safety of the sky. Light flashed through the thick foliage like a frantic photo shoot. A shard of light split open, just above the ground, and spilled David out. He appeared, stumbled a few feet and leaned on a moss-covered tree for support. Boom! With a clap like thunder, the light vanished. Glowing blue sparkles twinkled to the wet ground around David, signifying the completion of the event.
    David struggled to take another step, but fell to the ground and vomited into a patch of ferns. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea? For all he knew, time travel was only safe for inanimate objects. David pulled himself back to his feet and looked at his surroundings—lush jungle as far as the eye could see. This had to be Zambia, but were his coordinates correct? A thought occurred to David and a smile came to his sickly face, it had worked! He had traveled through time and space! He— crack! A gunshot pierced the air in the distance and David remembered what he had come to see.
    He carefully made his way through the dense wilderness toward the sounds of gunfire. He crept low to the ground while attempting to avoid the many snakes, spiders, and larger predators that he couldn’t see but thought must be lurking nearby. A metallic click froze David in his tracks.
    “Tuhn arownd,” came a deep voice. “Slohly.”
    David did as he was told and came face to face with four men he thought must be from a local tribe. Their dress was half-modern, half-tribal and one of them wore a Yankees baseball cap… David’s memory was triggered. He remembered the night Tom broke down and told David the entire story. Four men, in tribal clothes with rifles…and one of them, Tom called him the Yankee fan, because he wore a Yankees hat. These were Megan’s killers! These were the men Tom was going to kill mere minutes from now! David’s mind raced with thoughts and theories about what his presence would do to this past and his future.
    He thought about transporting himself back to the future right before their eyes, saving his own life, but perhaps distracting or frightening these men enough so that the events of the past never occur. David cringed at the thought that he might be changing the past just he feared Tom would.
    David winced as he felt cold steel press against his forehead. “Who ah you?” the Yankee fan demanded, “Ah you wit de missionaries?”
    “No,” David replied. He wondered if that was his ticket out of this. “I have nothing to do with the missionaries.”
    The Yankee fan leaned in close and inspected David’s face. “Do we know you? I tink we do.”
    “No.” David answered. “I’m a scientist.”
    David’s answer seemed to cause the men some confusion. It was not an answer they had anticipated. The Yankee fan noticed David’s LightTech badge still attached to his outer shirt. He lifted it up and looked at the picture, then back at David. He looked up and down David’s body, taking in his ornate tie, his pressed shirt and polished shoes. They seemed to dissuade any suspicion that David was lying. The four men held a quick discussion in their native tongue and then the Yankee fan said, “You ah fortunate, Mr. Scienteest. You do nah balieve as dey do, so you weel live... But we tink we will see you again. Yes we will.”
    David felt a pang of guilt as he stifled the urge to stand by his fellow believers and tell these men that he did believe in the same God. But he felt,