A Paradox of Time
Joseph Patrick Rogers


The journey through time was always taxing.
Few persons could endure the rigors of the journey. Several early travelers died and others took months to recover. 
Fortunately, Nicholas McKenna, both physically and psychologically, was able to make the arduous trip successfully.
On a bright, early autumn afternoon, Nick stumbled out of the time tunnel and emerged in a field in Beaconsfield, England in 1934. His arrival was observed only by a tall, rotund man wearing a cape and a crumbled hat. The man was walking a bull terrier through the field.
Bent over with his hands on his knees, Nick attempted to overcome the dizziness and nausea that affected even the most robust time travelers.
The dog walker approached Nick, while the dog ran wild through the field.
“Are you all right, lad?”
“Yes, thank you. Just out of breath.”
“A long trip?”
“Yes … no, just out for a jaunt … stretching my legs.”
“I see.”
Nick stood upright and looked around.
The man carefully observed him, then remarked, “Beaconsfield. You’re in England … September 28, 1934,”
“Yes, Beaconsfield … 1934 … Yes, of course I knew that.”
“Of course.” The man paused, then added, “At first I thought that you were an angel. I saw you emerge from a ball of light. However, an angel would arrive making declarations and proclamations, not exhausted by the passage.”
“I’m a tourist from the United States … I might have overexerted myself today … too long a hike.”
“My second thought was that you were a man from Mars or some other planet like in the stories that my friend, Mr. H.G. Wells, likes to write.”
“H.G. Wells … The War of the Worlds … I’m not a Martian. I’m from St. Louis, Missouri.”
“A fine city. I’ve been there twice.”
“And you are …?”
“Gilbert Chesterton … a journalist.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise. It occurs to me that another of my friend’s stories explains your singular means of arrival – The Time Machine.”
“A time machine … How did you get such a wild idea?”
“Well, for one thing, your attire is more appropriate for your 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis than for 1934 Beaconsfield. Your costumer needs to fine tune his designs. Since you are clearly a mortal man from this world, I would deduce that you are from the future.”
“Ah, deduction! So you are a detective – like Sherlock Holmes.”
“No, but like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I have written some detective stories. Father Brown is my protagonist. Even as we speak, I am imagining what Father Brown would say to you … what he would ask you.”
“Even if your imaginative deduction were true, there would be little that I could tell you … or your Father Brown. By knowing the future, you might inadvertently change the future. That could create a cascading catastrophic event on the timeline.”
“Yes, I understand, and I can be prudent in what I say and do. In any case, my own mortal journey is almost complete. Humor me. From what century do you come?”
Nick hesitated, then said, “I somehow intuitively know that you are a man who can be trusted – a man of his word. I’m from the mid-21st century.”
“Ah! Am I correct that another terrible war is coming soon?”
“Like your detective, you are able to make deductions.”
“I see the signs.”
Nick nodded. “World War II … millions will die. The United States and Great Britain and their allies will win, but at a high cost in lives. A nuclear bomb will be developed that can destroy an entire city.”
“One bomb … such power wielded by fallible, sinful men …”
“There are good things in the future, too,” Nick hastily added. “In a few years, television will be developed. People will be able to watch and listen to motion pictures in large boxes in their homes.”
“Amazing!”
“And in 1969, Americans will land on the moon and will walk on its surface.”
“Only 66 years after the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903! Remarkable!” Chesterton grinned and added, “As with much of creation, the moon is a paradox. The moon is utterly reasonable, but the moon is also the mother of lunatics and has given them all her name.” 
“One of the astronauts calls the moon surface a ‘magnificent desolation’ – another paradox, I presume.”
“Indeed.” Chesterton smiled.
There was a beeping sound. Nick pulled back his left sleeve to reveal a black bracelet covered with multi-colored blinking lights and buttons. 
“Oh, I’m receiving a signal that my laboratory is about to teleport me away … either home to the lab or further back to the year to which they meant to send me. Mr. Chesterton, you’d better step back so that . . .”
There was an explosion of light around Nick. The time parabola quickly expanded, engulfing Chesterton, too, then contracted, carrying away both men.
Chesterton found himself somersaulting through a kaleidoscope-like tunnel with a brilliant rainbow of colors. The experience was so disorienting that he was tempted to close his eyes, but it was also so fascinating that he kept his eyes opened and watched everything.
Being in a time tunnel made the calculation of time impossible, but the experience seemed to Chesterton to last about five minutes. He was unable to see Nick during the journey, and he ardently hoped that he wouldn’t be separated from his companion because Chesterton had no idea where he was going or how he was going to get back home.
As the bright lights dissipated, the sense of motion came to a stop. Chesterton felt that he was once again in a solid place and time. He found himself flat on his back, looking through the window of a metallic chamber.
A puzzled-looking, middle-aged man with a quizzical expression looked down at Chesterton. 
Fortunately, this perplexing situation did not last long. Nick appeared alongside the other man and opened the top of the chamber.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Chesterton. I should have been quicker in telling you to step back.”
“It likely would have made no difference, lad. Speed of movement is not one of my better attributes.”
“How are you feeling?” Nick asked.
“Like I had two rums too many, then rode an out-of-control carousel.” 
“Can you sit up?”
“Yes.” After rising to a seated position and swinging his feet onto the floor, Chesterton asked, “Where are we?”
“We are in the laboratory that sent me. This is Dr. Ong, who is in charge of this project. Dr. Ong, this is Gilbert Chesterton.”
“G.K. Chesterton?”
“Yes.” Chesterton’s eyes widened.
“I read three of your books in college,” Dr. Ong said. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” 
“Thank you. I surprised that any of my books are still read so far in the future.”
“Oh, yes. Your works experience quite a Renaissance at the beginning of this century.”
When Chesterton felt well enough to stand, Dr. Ong and Nick helped him out of the time chamber. With great interest, Chesterton looked around the room to see two additional time chambers and a lot of high-technology equipment that was unknown to him. Three technicians, two women and a man, worked diligently on their computers.
“What happened, Dr. Ong?” Nick asked.
“The Jinn hit us again. Their machine sent a shockwave that knocked you out of the time stream. Fortunately, we were able to pull you back before they ambushed you there.”
“Thank you. However, I’m afraid that we’ve greatly inconvenienced Mr. Chesterton.”
“I wish that I had such inconveniences every day.” Chesterton smiled. “An inconvenience is just an adventure wrongly considered. An adventure is just an inconvenience rightly considered.”
“That’s a good way of looking at things . . . Well, in any case, we’ll get you back to your own time and town as soon as possible.”
“As soon as we can be sure the timeline is clear of Jinn activity,” Dr. Ong said.
“Who are these Jinn of whom you speak?” Chesterton asked. 
“They are terrorists who have developed their own time machine. They are attempting to destroy Western Civilization.”
“Anarchists?” Chesterton asked.
“Not exactly . . . Jihadists would be a more accurate term. The Jinn are based in the Middle East, but they are gradually spreading into many countries.”
“You are fighting a new Battle of Lepanto on the sea of time,” Chesterton said. 
“Yes. Hopefully, we shall meet with similar success.”
“This must all be a bit overwhelming for you, Mr. Chesterton,” Nick said pleasantly.
“Indeed, but I understand that God is not limited by time. Christ is on earth today; alive on a thousand altars.”
 One of the technicians came across the room. “Dr. Ong, our monitors are again showing irregular activity on the timeline,” she said. “The Jinn might be traveling.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen.” Dr. Ong hurried across the room and stood alongside the technicians looking intently at their computer monitors.
“Being in this extraordinary laboratory today with all of you is certainly wonderful, but I must admit, when I found myself cascading through time, I hoped to land in biblical times – perhaps even along the Via del La Rosa as our Lord passes by.”
“Oh, our time machines are not powerful enough to take someone back that far. At the moment, going back to the Middle Ages is the best that we can do.”
“Might I inquire what your destination was before you were diverted to Beaconsfield?”
“I actually was headed to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Your comment about my attire was more accurate than you knew, Mr. Chesterton.”
“Ah! My apologies to your costumer.”
“I need to go there to the St. Louis World’s Fair protect President Theodore Roosevelt from Jinn assassins. Then, for my next mission, I’m going to the Elizabethan Era to Stratford-Upon-Avon.” 
“Ah! Shakespeare! Are you going to resolve that vexing authorship question? It seems clear to me that Shakespeare certainly wrote all the plays attributed to him, but Bacon’s name keeps popping up …”
“I agree. However, my mission is to protect young Shakespeare. The Jinn are sending assassins to kill him.”
“What? Outrageous! How did you gain this information?”
“Fortunately, we have many friends in the Middle East, and some of them have infiltrated the Jinn. Our spies keep us informed about what the Jinn are doing.”
“The Jinn are shrewd enough to realize that Shakespeare’s writings are fundamental to Western Civilization. Eliminating him before he has written any plays, knocks out one of the pillars of our civilization. By destroying the pillars, one by one, they seek to cause the West to collapse.”
Chesterton nodded. “You are indeed fighting a new Lepanto. ‘Don John of Austria has loosed the cannonade.’ ” 
“If they succeed in changing history, some of us might never be born. Our relatives and other loved ones might never be born.”
“To love anything is to realize it might be lost,” Chesterton said.
“That realization causes a paradigm shift,” Dr. Ong said. “We look at others from a new, better perspective.” 
“You fight a just war,” Chesterton said. “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
“Exactly,” Dr. Ong agreed.
“Since your current mission is to protect persons who are fundamental to Western Civilization, I would suggest adding St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis Assisi to your list.”
“All right,” Dr. Ong said. “It does seem likely that they will be targeted by the Jinn.”
“Endlessly protecting all these important pillars of our civilization is quite a daunting task. Although your technology is a mystery to me, I do have some understanding of the way men think. If your brave spies who have infiltrated that evil organization could provide you with the location of their time machine, you could take the fight directly to them.”
“By destroying their time machine, we end the threat posed by the Jinn. I think that you are right, Mr. Chesterton. Perhaps we have been too defensive so far,” Nick said.
In a moment of sudden intuitive sight, a shocked look appeared on Dr. Ong’s face.
“You’ve given me an alarming idea, Mr. Chesterton . . . Nick, after the Jinn knocked you out of the timestream, they might have tracked you back here. The Jinn might be planning to take the fight directly to us!”
Nick became visibly agitated. “If they are able to locate this lab, they could send soldiers to destroy everything and everyone here! They might be on their way here at this moment!”
“What are your defenses here?” Chesterton asked.
“Well, we do have guards in the hallway and in the lobby of this building, but we probably should have them here in the lab, too.” Dr. Ong walked over to the console and pressed a red button. “Security should be here momentarily.” 
Two balls of energy exploded in the lab. One of the technicians fell backwards, slamming into an instrument panel.
Two men dressed as soldiers emerged from the energy balls. Both men carried laser rifles that they raised to fire. Moving forward with great speed, Nick punched the man closest to him, causing the man to drop his rifle. With a second punch, Nick knocked the terrorist to the floor.
The second man, who had materialized next to Chesterton, aimed at Dr. Ong, but Chesterton pushed the rifle barrel downward, causing the laser beam to go searing into the floor. Then, using his height and weight to his advantage, Chesterton shoved the man backwards with tremendous force. The Jinn terrorist tumbled over a metallic time chamber.
Three guards came rushing into the room and quickly subdued and bound both Jinn terrorists, then led them out of the lab.
“Well done, Mr. Chesterton!” Nick praised him.
“You saved my life! Thank you!” Dr. Ong exclaimed. 
“I’m glad that I was able to help. It’s been quite a while since I’ve engaged in a brawl!”
“I’m sorry that we placed you in such danger,” Nick said.
“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.” Chesterton grinned.
Nick and Dr. Ong laughed.
“Yes, I suppose so,” Dr. Ong said. “But we’re clean enough for a while.”
 “The victory is yours today,” Chesterton said. “The war that you fight is a noble one. Earth will grow worse till men redeem it, and wars more evil, ere all wars cease. ‘Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.’ ” 
“Domino Gloria!” Dr. Ong declared.
A few minutes later, Nick and Dr. Ong helped Chesterton back into a time chamber.
 “Thank you for your help today, Mr. Chesterton!” Dr. Ong said.
 It’s been wonderful meeting you, Mr. Chesterton!” Nick said. “I hope to see you again someday!” 
“Yes, my friends, we’ll meet at the inn at the end of the world.”
Dr. Ong went over to join the technicians who were again working intently at their computers.
Nick waved goodbye to Chesterton as a brilliant burst of energy filled the time chamber.
Chesterton materialized in the field almost exactly where he had been standing before being carried away by the time parabola. Due to the skill and precise calculations of Dr. Ong and the lab technicians, Chesterton returned only thirty seconds after he had disappeared.
His bull terrier, still enjoying running free in the open field, had not even noticed Chesterton’s absence.
The shining energy field contracted and vanished.
A gust of wind blew Chesterton’s cape to a horizontal position and almost carried away his hat, but he held down the hat in time.
“What an extraordinary afternoon!” Chesterton declared as he and his dog resumed their walk across the field.