84437 (Part four)

In the time that it took him to get to the hill, the sun had crossed the rest of the sky and was starting to set. As promised, he was greeted by a circle of stones, planted into the ground like a giant fairy ring. The sun was now a warm red-orange ball, slowly descending towards the horizon, the fiery glow slotting in between two of the stones, which seemed to be squeezing the light from it.

“Well we’re here,” he said, feeling breathless from his ascent. “It’s very exposed. Isn’t it too open to set up camp here?”

“Go and stand in the middle of the ring. And take everything with you,” the machine instructed.

“Okay…”

He entered the ring, passing between the large stones. They towered over him like a stone gateway, some were four or five meters high and already looked very old. He wondered how long they had been here and how long they would continue to be in the future. A soft uneven crater, like one where a puddle has dried up, was where he judged the middle to be. He went and stood in the hollow wondering what was going to happen next.

“You need to keep very still,” the machine told him.

He felt a flush of worry. “Why?” he asked trying not to let his anxiety bloom into something much bigger like fear.

“Just stand still and count to ten. Try not to move.” And being told not to move only made him feel more fidgety than ever.

Without a sound, flashing lights surrounded him. He initially thought this was the sun, but it was too bright and too white to be the sun, which was red-orange and now only just balancing on the horizon. The hill suddenly started to shake and sink and the stones loomed up over him, pale shadows against the darkening sky. The flashes continued lighting up the stones and turning them white as a cyclone of air swirled and rushed and all the while he tried not to move.

The stones were stretching out into the sky now, bleeding out from their smooth shapes until they had many arms making inkblots of white against the evening sky which had darkened. It was then that the shrieking started, making him want to cover his ears but the machine had told him not to move. The wind had turned cold too, having a freezing touch that reminded him of the ice jacket in the testing room and he passed out through fear.

Well, at least he had thought he had passed out. It had gone very dark and his eyes had certainly closed as he now had to make an effort to open them again. When he did, he saw he was standing in a small grove of trees.

He gasped. “Where did the hill and the stones go?”

“They haven’t, we have,” the machine piped up from his clutched hand.

“What?”

“It is us that moved, not the stones and hill. They are still where we left them.”

He shook his head, feeling despair. “But I don’t understand…”

“We have moved through time and space. We are in a different time and in a different place.” The machine explained to him patiently.

“But how? That’s impossible.”

“By following the lines.”

He wasn’t sure what the machine meant by the lines. All that he could think of was telephone lines that hung from post to post and that was silly because he was far too big to fit through those.

“There were no lines, only stones,” he said knowing that he shouldn’t argue, but thinking how much easier things would be once he understood what was going on.

“Go pick an apple and I will explain.” The machine suggested.

What else could he do? The trees were indeed apple trees, which he hadn’t noticed at first, and they had lots of little pink and yellow fruit growing on them. He dropped the briefcase and strode over to the nearest tree, snapping one from the branch and came back.

He sat on the grassy floor and took a bite. “Have you heard of ley lines?” The machine asked.

“No,” he replied through a mouthful of apple.

“There is a ley line which passes through the valley, from the top of the hill where you stopped for the night and through the ring of stones that we came from. Another line crosses the ring the other way and it is this one which comes through this grove, this group of trees.” The voice was very animated. He imagined the machine growing arms.

“Have you heard of the Hodimadod or dodmen?” The machine asked and it recited for him, “Doddiman, doddiman, put out your horn, here comes a thief to steal your corn.” It sounded funny to hear it talking with an accent.

“What was that?” he asked feeling slightly amused.

“A quote from a traditional Norfolk rhyme.” Was there some humour in its voice now? But that would surely be his imagination. The machine continued to explain. “What about Alfred Mitchell or William Wilcox? John Black was quite close too. I have their works if you want to read them.”

“No I haven’t heard of any of them.”

“They all traced and found some of the alignments of the ley lines. They thought that the Hodimadod or dodmen were the ancient surveyors who made the ley lines.”

“And were they?”

“Close enough I suppose, although they didn’t actually make the lines as they were already there. It would be more accurate to say that they were the ones who discovered some of them.”

“So these ley lines, what are they?”

“You could liken them to highways that go through space and time. That is a rather simplistic viewpoint to take as it is much more complicated than that, but it will suffice for now. These highways are interconnected and can be accessed by gateways like the stone circle for instance.”

“So these gateways lead to highways that go through space and time?” It sounded quite unreasonable, but then he had just escaped unscathed from a facility that had been vaporised and was currently talking to a machine.

“Yes. After some of the gateways were found the Hodimadod placed monuments on them, like the stone circles and mounds. Then, later generations built their own monuments, including buildings like churches. Over time the nature of the gateways was forgotten.”

He had finished eating the apple by now and dropped the core. He gathered some more, wishing that he had pockets to store them in as they were delicious.

“Ley lines are not the only way to travel through space and time,” the machine said. “There is another, more unnatural way to do this.”

Turning his head in curiosity he saw now that two words had flashed up on the little screen.

“84437 – Tyger.” The machine said, reciting the words and then it told him what they had been doing to him at the facility.

[www.abovetopsecret.com...]84437 (part 1)[/url]
[www.abovetopsecret.com...]84437 (part 2)[/url]
[www.abovetopsecret.com...]84437 (part 3)[/url]
[www.abovetopsecret.com...]84437 (part 4)[/url]

More!!!!!!!

a reply to: Night Star

Thanks for your enthusiasm.

My intention is that part one is the prologue to a much bigger story called "If Tiger Could Tell the Time". Parts two and three are going to be split up and featured throughout and part four is the epilogue.

The rest of 84437's story is yet to be written and I was going to deal with him in his own story, a sequel called "Where there be Dragons"

I'm estimating that the final word count of Tiger will be around 120,000 words and currently stands at 117,000 as one of the three characters (not including 84437) is unfinished. I don't know if posting such a huge amount would contravene ATS T's & C's, but I don't mind posting some of the beginning to get an idea of what people feel about it and where they think it might be going.

I would love to one day publish something and to have feedback will be excellent. If I get a good enough response (and finish it to a high enough standard) then I might be appealing for advice on self-publishing or routes into the world of traditional publishing.

Anyway, for those of you who want to read on, you can do so here
If Tiger Could Tell the Time

a reply to: YarlanZey

Totally cool !!! I look forward to more, and see a link for If Tiger Could Tell Time, and will be checking it out soon. (Saved link) I also look forward to reading Where there Be Dragons, as You can see I am a Dragon Enthusiast!
I love Your writing style. You lay out a good story-line. Well done in My Book! I am however not a professional, but seem to remember published Books, that lay out the same, or very similar, story lines (in explanative fashion), so am thinking You are Well on Your way. Far along the path to Pro Publishing I would think!!!!!!

Gonna keep an eye on You for More Stories here at ATS!!!!!! Later, Syx.

a reply to: SyxPak

Thanks SyxPak.

Wow enjoyed that.
( And I have worked out how to give stars!!!!!! )
Im going to be reading more of your stories x
Very professional x

a reply to: afraidofthedark

Hello. Thanks for all your kind comments

Did you see the rest of it here?