It had been cold, but not freezing cold, when Randy had gone to bed. The weather forecast had called for light snow during the night, which meant a good chance school would be canceled. Randy lived for these winter mini-vacations, but today would not be one of them. He grabbed his phone to check to see the notification of the school closing and was disappointed to find only a brief announcement there would be a one-hour delay in opening.
With a sigh, he rolled over to bury his head in the covers, but his Mom was yelling from the kitchen that it was time to get up and get moving. With the slippery roads, she needed to hit the road early because there would be a traffic jam on Rt. 98. Randy’s dad was already gone by the time he forced himself out of bed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
As soon as he arrived his mom gave him a peck on the cheek and headed for the door to the garage. As she went, she called over her shoulder and said, “Since school is delayed you need to shovel the drive before you go, okay?” Randy shrugged, the okay really wasn’t a question seeking his opinion, he knew by now the decision was already made and he now had the snow-shovel duty.
He grabbed his phone to check for any messages as he sat down to the oatmeal his mom had made. Of course, there were about 22 messages from his friends, all asking about his plans on this “snow day” that now wasn’t. But there in the middle of all the notes of dreams that would go unfulfilled was a message from a number he didn’t recognize.
Opening it, he read, “Today is an opportunity of a lifetime. You can, of course, choose to ignore it or you can see what the future holds. Meet me in Mrs. Gavin’s room at 12:30 sharp. If you aren’t there, I’ll understand.” That was it, no signature, nothing to clue Randy into which one of his friends was pranking him.
Finishing his breakfast, he threw on some warm clothing and headed to the garage to start the snow blower and knock off the driveway before showering for school. He figured it would take about 15 minutes and he would still have some time for a quick game on the PlayStation® before the bus arrived.
Chapter 2
As he climbed aboard the bus Randy headed to his usual seat. He noticed about half the gang that was usually there had either decided to sleep in or had cajoled their parents into giving them a ride on this snowy morning. If the latter were true, he would know soon enough when they arrived at school and faced the gauntlet of cars and their drivers unfamiliar with the process of dropping off kids.
Sure enough, as they pulled in there was the parking lot full of cars, all trying to be next in line to deposit their cargo at the front door. As the bus hit its spot the few kids who were aboard slid out and walked on the salt-covered sidewalk to the side entrance. Randy’s locker was just down the hall about 100-feet and he headed straight for it to dump his backpack. He checked the schedule for today, just to confirm lunch started at 12:15, but figured that might all change with the late start. If it did they’d have an announcement during homeroom.
Slipping into his seat, which was next to Todd, a friend from his elementary school days, and just behind Annie – a recent transfer he hadn’t bothered to get to know, he slipped on his Beats® to kill some time before the morning announcements. Randy wasn’t much as socializing and today didn’t seem like a good time to start. The music seemed to do the trick and he closed his eyes to imagine he was somewhere warm and scenic, filled with semi or even completely naked women. Just as he was getting into it, the bell rang and the homeroom teacher Mr. Livingston yelled for everyone to kill the phones, and the morning routine began.
Mr. Livingston, now there was an imposing teacher. He looked like he could play linebacker for the Patriots. At 6’6” he stood well above almost everyone, except maybe the basketball team. His hair was short and he was clean shaven, in contrast to the look most of the male teachers seemed to be going for. You know, the slightly unkempt look with a three-day growth, or real beard. He taught in the social sciences department and Randy had heard he was pretty good explaining why people acted like they did. Someone, Randy couldn’t remember who exactly, said they had heard people talking about how good a cook he was and his classes would benefit from some of his experiments.
Attendance was light today, so Randy figured it would be an easy day in class. No great struggle to learn since everyone, including the teachers, would be wishing they were at home sluffing off. After the attendance was taken the morning announcements came over the television. The two A/V club geeks who were practicing there best evening news routines when going through the normal list of stuff that no one ever pays attention to. Then it came to the lunch schedule, the only part Randy was interested in. To his amazement, the lunch schedule was unchanged, minus the 1st-period classes that were canceled due to the late start.
With that tidbit tucked away Randy went back into the autopilot mode that carried him along each day, at least until Annie turned around and asked him if he had gotten a strange text message about showing up in Ms. Gavin’s room at 12:30? When Todd overheard her, he jumped in and said he had gotten the same message. What did Annie think it meant? Randy said he had, but didn’t have a clue. Secretly he was glad to hear that others had gotten the message. It was a lot less scary to head somewhere if you knew it wasn’t just you heading into the unknown.
The three agreed to meet outside Gavin’s room before they pulled the door open. That way if there was something to run from they figured having three to catch would be harder than just one. With that, homeroom was over and they headed their separate ways. Randy to Calculus I, Todd to Biology II, and Annie to Social Studies.
Chapter 3
Time seemed to stand still as Randy listened to the teacher drone on about the formulas she had covered earlier in the week, and assigned about 30 minutes of work in the class and another hour for home. All Randy could really think about was what was going to happen when they got to Ms. Gavin’s room. It was on the third floor in the southeast wing of the building. About as far away from the central hub as you could get. Randy figured it was about the perfect place for an ax murderer to hang out, but Ms. Gavin was as far from an ax murderer as you could get, at least Randy thought so. Not that he had a lot of experience with ax murderers, except what he’d seen in the movies.
Ms. Gavin barely reached Randy’s chin, and he was only 5’9”. He thought maybe she probably topped the scales at about 100 pounds. But she was one heck of a Physics teacher and as the science club sponsor. Randy had gotten to know her when he needed help building his fighting robot for the annual science club robot wars. He’d lost, but as a freshman, he had learned a lot about how to balance the demands of space, weight, and strength against the limits of his battery life. Now, as a sophomore, he was sure he knew how to make the winning “bot.”
With the bell ending class, the entire school seemed to rise as one and fill the halls with the noise and life of a heard of Wildebeests headed to the nearest watering hole. Randy made his way through the crowds, sticking close to the lockers, so as not to be swept by the current into some vast whirlpool of humanity that would take him somewhere he didn’t want to go. His freshman year he had seen this happen to a friend, who had had to swim upstream, like a salmon, to get to his second-period class before the door closed.
The next two classes were pretty much a repeat of the first. Taught by teachers who had hoped to be at home with their soap operas and coffee (or maybe wine) and not having to face a crowd of kids who also wanted to be somewhere else. Again, Randy spent most of the time discreetly checking his phone for any new messages from that unknown phone number and watching time slowly pass. In his fourth class was a study hall and he had almost drifted off to sleep when the bell shattered his reverie. It was now 12:15 and time to head to lunch. Normally, lunch was something Randy considered the highlight of the academic day. A time when he could sit with friends and talk about the great inequities of life, or maybe sports, or even who had summoned up the courage to ask a girl out and how the date had worked out, but today was different. A quick jog to his locker to dump off his books, and then a beeline to Ms. Gavin’s room – 318S.
He arrived just as Todd came huffing up the stairs. His last class was German and the teacher had kept them an extra 10-minutes to complete some sort of review of tense. It was about as far away from 318S as you could get and still be on campus. Waiting impatiently was Annie, who was tapping her foot with a stern look. Randy suppressed a smile as he could imagine Annie as a future librarian -- schussing people.
With a minute to spare the three pulled open the door to what seemed to be an empty room. They slowly entered. Todd hit the light switch and as the lights came on their initial impressions were confirmed. The room was indeed empty. The only thing that seemed out of place was on the whiteboard in the front of the room. It said, “Welcome you three, please take a seat and we will be with you momentarily.”
Chapter 4
They looked at each other, debating whether to sit or go, while the going was good. “My Mom always says, ‘In for a penny, in for a pound’” Annie said. “What the hell does that mean,” Todd asked. “I’m pretty sure it means either go all in or don’t play at all” Annie answered. So, the three would-be adventurers headed towards the whiteboard and chose their seats.
As they sat down there was a faint, almost imperceptible, whirring sound coming from the hallway. The lights flickered briefly and the next thing they knew, they heard the door opening. As they turned they saw first Ms. Gavin and then Mr. Livingston enter, and quietly close the door behind themselves. They were about as stark a contrast in a couple as anyone could imagine. In her heels Ms. Elaine Gavin maybe reached 5’3” and in his bare feet Mr. Samuel Livingston was an easy 6’6”.
They walked directly to the front of the room and looked at the three young people and without a hesitation together made the rather obvious observation. “I bet you’re wondering what this is all about, aren’t you?”
Randy, conditioned by years of public school raised his hand. Ms. Gavin chuckled and said, “Yes? By the way, hand raising is not required in this group.”
Sheepishly putting his hand down, Randy looked at his classmates and then the teachers and speaking for the three of them, said: “yes, we were, but I hope this isn’t about the assignment I owed you after the last science club, is it?” Ms. Gavin smiled and shook her head no, but did say “although that has some relativity to what we are about to say. The assignment Randy was talking about dealt with how to deal with Newton’s third “law, which simply stated is “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
With that, Mr. Livingston went to the whiteboard, passed his hand in front and the writing disappeared. He then said to the three curious adventurers, “We’ve been waiting some time for you three to arrive here.” Todd jumped in and said, “we only got an invitation this morning?” Sam Livingston smiled as he said, “yes, but that isn’t really what I was talking about. You see Elaine and I are kind of a team of explorers ourselves and we’ve been looking for just the right combination of young minds who can help us complete our own quest.” Annie, then spoke up, “Quest? Like in Dungeons and Dragons or King Arthur’s search for the holy grail?”
Chapter 5
“No, not like that! Well maybe a little like that, but it is really not too dangerous,” said Ms. Gavin. “Now; why not let Mr. Livingston finish.”
“Gentle people” he began. “Today the three of you were invited to look into one of the great mysteries of life. Is it possible for us to actually progress beyond what we see and hear to understand what is truth or what is fiction?”
“We, Elaine and I, are actually from another place, and maybe from another time. A time when people listen, a time when we consider, and when we debate the issues and reach a consensus on what we should do before we run off willy-nilly pointing fingers and claiming credit. It is a time and a place where we respect the rights of all but realize we each have a right to an opinion, but just having an opinion doesn’t mean everyone has to listen to it.”
“We have a machine that will transport you through time and space to an event, your job will be to observe the event and report back what you saw. You will be together as a team and will work to get the details as accurate as you can. You will then return to us with your report, and we can compare that report to what you actually observed.”
“Wait a minute! Are you saying you have a time machine and you want us to use it?” Annie asked. Chuckling, Samuel Livingston shook his head and said, “No not an actual time machine, but a simulator that will take all we know about an event and condense it into a virtual reality. You three will have VR headsets and full VR suits that will help you enter into that reality. Each trip will take about an hour? Your report will be due the next day. The entire purpose is to open your minds to show you how history is actually shaped so you might be prepared to shape it yourselves one day. Now, what do you say?”
Chapter 6
The three looked at each other, seeking some clue as to what the others were thinking. It was Todd who spoke first, and it was a question, not an answer. “Who gets to decide what reality we explore? Are there an infinite number of choices?” Ms. Gavin answered, “No there are not an infinite number of choices, but I’m guessing we have any journey you can imagine, or that you are familiar with, so why don’t we let you all decide where and when you want to back to, okay?”
With that the three huddled and came to an agreement that this seemed more interesting than their usual homework assignments so why not give it a shot?
Together they all said okay and then asked where the first trip was going.
Mr. Livingston held up his hand, “Before we get started on this, there are two ground rules. The first is you are sworn to secrecy and the second is the trips will have to be during the last period or after school, can you guys live with that?”
As he said that the bell ending the period rang.
“Okay, before you all leave we can work out the schedule for the first experiment tomorrow. Talk about where and when you want to explore and let me know in homeroom. I’ll work some magic to get your schedules rearranged so you all can slip away for the last period. See you tomorrow.
Chapter 7
That night, at home, the three spent almost four hours texting, talking, and video chatting back and forth over what they should do. So many options, but how was this whole thing going to work? Wasn’t history already fixed and what they showed in the history books?
Finally, they had a plan. They were agreed on where they would go and what they would seek to discover as they sought the facts of history. Maybe we start with something were everyone agrees with what happened, and see if this program Mr. Livingston and Ms. Gavin has is accurate. Their only remaining question was how were the two teachers going to get them all into last period study hall without missing their normal classes?
That settled, the three closed it down for the night and agreed to get together at homeroom to pass their request to Mr. Livingston.
When the alarm went off, Randy rolled out of bed much quicker and more alert than he normal. Maybe it was the anticipation of the unknown before him but his interest in the day was much greater than usual. He chalked it up to the same emotions he felt when his folks told him they were going to Disney World and Universal in Orlando.
Todd, on the other hand, buried his head just a bit deeper in the covers as he debated whether or not he really wanted to go through with this whole thing. Annie was somewhere between the two boys. She was filled with anticipation of some cool new video game but worried about being the only girl. What would it be like to go somewhere strange with two guys she hardly knew? What happens if something goes wrong? The doubts and excitement mixed to form a strange emotion she wasn’t quite sure how to handle.
She hurried through her morning routine as her Dad called her to get a move on so he could drop her off on his way to work. Normally, the routine was automatic and required little thought. Today was different, it was almost like the first day of school, or even a date. What to wear? How should she fix her hair? What were the right shoes? She had it much tougher than the boys. They would never know the struggle.
Finally, the choices made, she bounded down the stairs, gulped a glass of juice, and grabbed a banana and made a beeline to the car, until her Mom yelled, “What no goodbye kiss?” Sheepishly, Annie headed back, gave Mom a peck on the cheek and headed back to the car where her Dad was impatiently waiting.
Arriving at school the three huddled in a corner in the hallway making sure they were still all in agreement before they headed into homeroom. Once inside Randy casually dropped a note on the desk as he headed to his seat. Mr. Livingston gave a slight nod of acknowledgment before he casually took the note and tucked it into his pocket. The morning bell rang and the daily routine began. This time with one exception. As the announcements were read by the A/V team, one tidbit caught the three would-be adventurers’ attention. Last period was being changed into a General Assembly where someone from the State Department of Education was going to talk about the proposed changes to the curriculum.
So that’s how we get out of the last period! Randy could only smile at the thought. He glanced at Todd, who was looking at Annie. They now had a plan. Ditching an assembly was a piece of cake.
Chapter 8
Randy, Annie, and Todd met outside the school’s auditorium after their last class and headed upstairs to the third floor. From the stairwell, they made a beeline to 318 arriving just as the bell to start the third period sounded.
Once inside the room, Ms. Gavin asked if they had reached an agreement on what they would go back in time to see? They nodded in the affirmative and gave her the event. She headed into what looked like a broom closet. As she entered Samuel Livingston emerged with three boxes, each box had a name on it. As he approached they could see one box was for each of them.
“Okay guys, these are your AI suits. I’ll help you get them on while Elaine programs the computer. First, remove all your jewelry, rings, necklaces, and watches. You can put them in the little lock box in the bottom of each box. Next, remove your shoes and put on the pair that you find in the box, then the gloves, next to the bodysuit and finally the helmet. You will find the sounds are muffled once the helmet goes on so I will be talking with you through this small laser transmitter. We will have 2-way communication at all time.
Once you’re all rigged up we will clip you into a chair that will serve as your transport vehicle. Now let’s get moving.”
With some trepidation, the three began the process of taking off and putting on. It took them about 5-minutes to get ready. As they were doing that, Samuel rolled out the chairs they would ride. As he was strapping them in he offered the following directions.
“As you journey, it will be as if you are in a balloon, over the area you have chosen. You will be able to see, smell and hear what is going on. You will be able to talk to each other, but no one on the ground will know you are there. If you want to listen to a specific conversation all you need to say is ‘listen to X’ where X is the individual. Also, time will be greatly accelerated. While you will be gone for 50 or so minutes in our time, it will seem like you are wherever you are for up to three days”
As he finished, Elaine came back into the room and indicated she was ready. Samuel hooked up the final connections and suddenly the three adventurers were standing in a balloon. A voice without form asked “Are you ready? If so just give me a thumbs up. Oh, by the way, if you are scared or feel threatened just say the word HOME and the adventure will end.” With three thumbs up they trio set off.
Chapter 9
In a blink of the eye, they were slowly floating over a scarred land. Trees were torn up, branches piled high, and a dreary, thin-fog covered the land. A land scarred by holes, almost as if it had the worst case of acne ever.
Randy checked the clock on the control panel of the balloon. Sure enough, it read 8 am November 19, 1863. They had plenty of time to explore the area before the ceremony they had come to watch was really going to start.
The remarkable thing they learned about their balloon was they could actually steer it, it wasn’t just something that hung in the sky, but a means to go from place to place with pretty straightforward controls. It was almost as if they were playing a video game, although the images before them seemed completely real.
Todd was the first to speak. “Let’s head south of town, that is where most of the action took place.” Todd was the real history buff and it was really his recommendation that the group settled on for this first trip. “I’ll point out the significant landmarks, we just need to be back to the town by noon. I think that is probably when the ceremony will start.”
As they drifted south they could see an old railroad train coming into town from the southeast. “I wonder if that is the President’s train?” Annie asked. “It might be.” Said Todd.
Once past the outskirts of the small village or town, Todd began a running narrative. “See those stone walls? That’s Seminary Ridge, it was a strong point established by General Buford of the US Calvary when he figured out where the Confederates were headed. It was the high ground, and in those days holding the high ground was a most important fact since it forced the other side to fight uphill. See how the Confederate cannons tore up the walls and helped give them hope they could overwhelm the Union like they had done so many times before.”
“Look further south and you can where the Union had established it left most positions and where on the second day of the battle General Lee sent most of his troops to try and get around the union so they could force them out of their positions. Little Round Top must be that hill, right there.” Todd extended his arm, pointing to a small set of hills, hardly remarkable except for their cluster by open fields. “That is where Col Chamberlin and the 20th Maine fought and defeated the Confederate’s attempt to get around the Union line,” he concluded.
As they slowly traveled towards Little Round Top they saw what must have been a couple of thousand mounds of dirt scattered all over the landscape. “What are those?” Annie asked. “Hmmm, I’m not sure,” said Todd “but if I had to guess I would think they may be the graves of dead Confederates. As General Lee’s army retreated they did not have time to recover the thousands of soldiers who died in this battle. The Union Army just kind buried them where they lay without too much concern for identification or letting the families know what happened to their men. I think there were over 7,000 people killed in the battle, more than half of them were from the Confederate Army.”
The trees that had covered the Little Round Top were now without their leaves, which lay the ground below, but you could still make out the scars of all the shot and shells that had been lobbed into that hill as the Confederates attempted to rout the Union.
Checking the time, Randy suggested they head back to where the new cemetery was and get ready to watch the dedication. He took control and started guiding the balloon back along what must be the Taneytown Road.
Annie pulled out her maps and confirmed it was a good choice. They could see the town in the distance and saw the crowds gathering at what must be the dedication ceremony.
They arrived over the ceremony just as the music started.
Chapter 10
As the music faded, a lone figure rose and climbed to the stage. He was introduced as Reverend Stockton and offered the invocation. After that another band played some solemn music while the stage was set for what the three assumed would be Abraham Lincoln, but they were surprised that it was not Lincoln, but a rather large white-haired man, introduced as the Honorable Edward Everett, the former Secretary of State a former President of Harvard, former Governor of Massachusetts, former Senator, and now famous orator.
Randy looked at his friends, “I thought Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg address?” Annie nodded, “so did I.” Todd looked a little confused but checked the notes he had made last night. “From what I read inviting President Lincoln was an afterthought for the people who organized this. My notes tell me he will follow this guy, so it shouldn’t be too long now.
As the speaker began they could hardly hear what he was saying, and it was then Randy remembered Mr. Livingston’s direction. “Listen to, what’s his name?” Nothing happened until Todd, checking his notes again said: “Listen to Edward Everett.” Suddenly his voice boomed out of nowhere as he said: “It was appointed by law in Athens…” Annie and Randy both reached for what they saw as a volume knob and quickly turned it down to a better level. They could also hear his speaking through the megaphones in front of him as he went on, and on, and on.
They listened as he recounted all the events of the three-day battle, from the views of the winning side. They heard as he condemned the rebels of the “cotton growing states” and how just was the cause of those who fought to maintain the union and how great most of the northern generals were in winning this great victory. Randy looked at Todd and asked, “Is he ever going to stop?”
Two-hours later he had his answer. After listening for those two hours the three doubted they could remember anything of earth-shattering importance this man had said. In fact, Todd admitted to dozing off once or twice.
As the crowd stood and applauded the speaker soaked in their adoration before being given some kind of keepsake and being escorted off the stage. At that point, some of the audience began moving away, as if the ceremony was concluding.
It was then Lincoln, in his famous tall hat, climbed up the stairs and the man who seemed to be in charge called for the audience to pay attention to what the speaker had to say.
Randy said, “Listen to Abraham Lincoln” and a rather scratchy voice came through the speaker. They needed to turn the volume up to hear him clearly.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Two minutes after he started he was done. There was polite applause and he walked off the stage, where the trio heard him tell his assistant, John Hay, “John, we have a train to catch, show the way.” With that, the audio stopped and the three saw Lincoln moving among well-wishers towards a carriage that would take him and his party to the train station a few blocks away.
“Well what should we do now, Randy asked.” Todd and Annie answered in unison, “Let’s go home” and suddenly they found themselves back in room 318.
“So, what did you think of your first journey?” Ms. Gavin asked. The three looked first at each other and then at both Livingston and Gavin… “it seemed so real, but surely it was just an illusion.” “No, it’s as real as it can be. We have a rather unique database to draw from. You now have twenty-four hours to work together and draft a report on your trip, tell us what you learned and what seemed the most important thing that shaped how the record of history remembers the event and why?”
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