Wormhole to Wernher

The grandfather's paradox was what I was thinking about while suiting up to pass through a wormhole to go back in time. No one had gone back in time before until now because it takes tons of energy to send even one person through time and there is no way to really know if it would even do anything. As in change what happened in the past. Can we really stop anything from happening as one person going back to warn people? Possibly not. I might not even be able to remember my life here in the future. The past will just become the now. A different now. No more 2023. I close my eyes as I am set up to launch into the wormhole. My comrades pat one last goodbye to me as they push me into the little ship. Before this moment we ate one last lunch together as they hoped they would remember me. Jack and Parker were like brothers to me. I chose to do this because I am the only one who doesn’t really have family. No wife, no children, and my parents passed away long ago. I only have my work colleagues that I am now hoping to make proud even if they don’t exactly remember who I am or if I will even be able to get back to see them. I hear a whoosh! and feel as if my body is discombobulated before losing consciousness.

“Hey, he is waking up,” a nurse looks over at me from a hospital bed.

“Sir, do you remember anything?” she asked me. What do I remember? Nothing. Not even my name. My brain believed it was 1942.

“Why didn’t anyone stop him?” I raised my finger up a bit.

“Stop who?” the nurse asked.

“Hitler,” I sighed.

“All those people voted for him. It would take more than just a few people to go over and change the minds of an entire society. Plus that is all over. It is 1964, sir,” she shook her head. That is then when I finally remembered.

“My name is Danny Dorrough,” I told her.

“Great, I will be right back,” she left for about thirty minutes and came back.

“I don’t see records on Danny Dorrough anywhere here in the United States,” the nurse looked confused.

“I am from space. Looks like it still landed me back in Los Angeles,” I gestured out the window.

“You are from space? That explains the space suit. I will contact NASA for you then. Maybe they will find a way to pay for your time here,” she walked on.

“Oh no, no one will ever believe this… or maybe scientists will be thrilled. Wernher von Braun is still alive right now,” I whispered to myself.

“Some guys from NASA are coming to talk to you now Mr. Dorrough,” the nurse nodded her head into the door quickly and popped back out. I waited another 45 minutes while eating hospital snacks before a couple of men came through the door eyeing me thoroughly.

“Well that space suit does look more modern,” one of the men rubbed his chin.

“We need to take it in and look at it to make sure it isn’t just made to look like that and this man is not just causing a scene,” the other spoke as if I wasn’t really there.

“Well the bill is paid off, so let’s bring him in,” they started to grab for him.

“Hey, I am not a zoo animal. I can be asked to follow you,” I mentioned after they pulled me up.

“If you are willing,” he gestured to me to follow them.

“Of course I am, I am from NASA after all.” We left the hospital and I got into the car of one of the guys with a Corvette Stingray.

“Name?” I wondered.

“You don’t get anyone’s names until you are checked out and tell the boss what all you know.”

“Wernher?”

“Yeah, everyone knows him,”

“Well not everyone knows he will be the reason we land on the moon.”

The man swerves the stingray a bit at the mention, “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, quite the dream for right now. You know everyone tries to play it off like it was just a studio and it was all fake?”

“Anyone could make that up!” he yells but then calms down with a veil of curiosity curtaining over the old anger. “What year?”

“That’s it. You have been working towards this right? I knew you would want to know. 1969,” I inform him, “This is actually going to be fun knowing information that no one else does.”

“Fine, my name is Edwin Aldrin, but you can call me Buzz.”

“Wow, hero!” I jumped up in the seat.

“What, why?”

“You are going to be the first man on the moon, but Neil is going to steal all of your glory for it.”

“What? No more of this talk while I am driving. Trying to not have a wreck here.”

“Hey, that last bit can be between you and me if you want.”

“Right, I may want to know why Neil is more famous than me.”

“Fine then.” After a while we drive up to NASA and walk in through the buildings. It is beautiful being able to see the beginnings of rocket making. The best history lesson is being able to see everything like how it is set out in a museum. Making a world of old, except this time it really is that world.

We walk into a big office and shake hands with the man himself. “Wernher, a pleasure,” I beam at him.

“Indeed,” he squinted his eyes in suspicion, “We are going to measure you to make sure and get the right clothing. Need to take in the suit and the clothes you are wearing to examine.

“By all means,” I agree as I am led to a side door by the office to be measured by a lady there before she runs off to the stores.

“Will be so great to wear something that isn’t fast fashion,” I laugh.

“Fast fashion?” Wernher questions.

“Yeah, the new world is all about fast. Fast food, fast fashion, fast fast. Well, it can be great, but at some point sometimes too cheap to have any real quality to it.”

“Right, well let’s get down to talking more about this world, and if you have possibly brought anything from it for us to see as proof,” he gestured to a chair in front of him. I sat down and rummaged through my pockets to feel for something and there it was!

“My smart watch. I forgot to take it off. It busted when I went through the wormhole, but surely some of that latest technology can be looked at…” I started while putting the piece on his desk table and he quickly stood.

“That better not be a mini bomb or anything!”

“No. First there was the phone, then mobile phones, then smartphones, and then the watches that connect to the phones.”

Wernher looked at his own watch, “So gone are the days of wearing your grandfather’s watch?”

“Well they still do, but mostly only as a fashion statement.”

“This modern world sounds intriguing if it is true,” he started while the lady returned with clothing to hand to me. I quickly changed and gave her the clothes for them to search. “The only question is to know how to go forward so I can see it. How did you get here again?”

“I came through a wormhole. The way to go forward though is through a black hole.”

“Science fiction becomes real, I see. I do wonder if you invest money now in your name if it would be available to someone in years to come as a fortune,” he pondered.

“Possibly. Might have to claim you are a grandson to that person though. Don’t know if the next world would keep the money going. I am the first person to go through the wormhole you see. I have no family, so I decided to sacrifice myself for it. Similar to space travel, but more questions up in the air.”

“And you said we will reach the moon?” he wondered.

“Yes, I could help to reach it faster,” I offered.

“It would be nice if you would work here. Would get technology flowing faster, but for now we will find a place for you to stay while your items are looked at. We will talk tomorrow. If you really did travel through time, I am sure the worming of your brain would make you tired.”

“Yes sir. Would be great to sleep, and it has been so nice meeting you.” We shook hands and I was led to a taxi to stay at a hotel for the night.

****************

The next morning a taxi was waiting for me again as I was led back to Wernher. “Good morning, we have looked at your suit and technology and now know you are definitely not lying. You will work here for me so we can speed up the launch to the moon and you will help to send me to your time.”

“Well I didn’t really pick the time that I landed in, so I will try to see what I can do. If you go through a black hole, you could end up past 2023. Although I guess only so much energy can take your so far,” I warned him.

“Oh well, I just want to see the future. Plus chances are they will have more time travel knowledge in the future than the past.”

“That is true, but the adjustment going from the future to past and past to future is different. Plus we have to talk about the morals of this, like how people copy and change DNA.”

“You do have a lot to tell me. We will have to keep communicating about the future before making a decision for me to go forward in time. Get to work for now though.”

“Right on it!” I agree and spend the next couple of weeks helping to move the space knowledge further along while also communicating the future to Wernher.

“Plus people in the future might not like that you are a Nazi,” I continued in a conversation with him.

“No one knows that about me,” he clears his throat.

“The future does, and they are really concerned about morals in the future.

“Yes you mentioned the women’s rights progression and such.”

“Exactly, so taking you there could cause a problem.”

“In this time I am your boss though!”

“Yes, but I don’t think you understand…:

“I understand plenty. We are going to release you from your duties now. We don’t need you here anymore. Do not come back. I will find my own way to the future with your technology.” Fast as a rocket flying through space, I was taken away and forced to live on the streets.

*********

“Hey Danny, let me know why Neil was more famous than me before I go to the moon, and I will let you back in to travel back to your time. Wernher is gone and went forward in time, so I am in charge now to let you in,” Buzz found me slumming in the streets of LA.

“Say that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind when you get there,” I pat him on the back.

“Alright, you are in. Let’s get you back to your time,” he led me back to NASA and I was suited up to go through the same black hole that Wernher went through.

“Was nice to meet you Buzz,” I told him before being launched off.

“Thanks for coming back through time to tell me what to say,” he nodded and then announced, “The year is 1966 and we are about to launch to the moon after sending this man home!” A different kind of whoosh sound happened and I was once again in a hospital bed, but this time in 2023 again with my coworkers floating over me in concern.

“You are finally back!” Jack clapped his hands, “Let’s celebrate after this.”

“Where is Wernher?” I wondered.

“Prison,” Parker informed me.

“For what?”

“He tried to let everyone know that there was a different timeline of life where America first went to the moon later in 1969 instead of 1966 and Neil Armstrong was the one who was remembered by saying one small step for man. We can’t let this get out. Other countries can’t know about this. Plus regular society would try to use it to change small personal situations,” Jack explained.

“Only the rich could afford to do that though,” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah and probably for selfish reasons like how Wernher asked where his invested money was. There isn't enough energy to keep using for petty issues,” Parker laughed heartily.

“Yes, I tried to warn him about the moral issue similar to being like cloning and DNA. Is the world much different?” the hospital room still seemed to mostly look 2023, except some extra robot mechanics.

“Technology went faster and people are now able to use more AI and robotics. Not much else from that really,” Jack shrugged.

“So I made a bit of a change, but not all that much.”

“Still made a change though,” Jack gave me a thumbs up.

“How do we really know that we are the only ones who know the time is different?”

“Maybe I guess we should check the papers and if someone says they remember something differently people would just think they are not right in their mind,” Parker scratched his head.

“Well I guess Wernher is begging to go back since he was famous in the 60s, but a criminal in these times,” I smirked at the guys.

“Oh for sure, but we will decide if we even want to do this again or not. It took a good bit having you go back and forth and taking Wernher forward. We can't keep depleting energy like that. He has to stay for now. The risk of him knowing and letting him go is not a good idea,” Jack explained.

“Well just glad to be back in my time again and not homeless,” I looked at the guy’s concerned faces and was excited about being able to tell them my time travel adventure.