Page 84 - Demo

84Sometimes things go wrong, drastically. Luke had used the vehicle many times travelling backwards and forwards exploring many histories for the Worldwide Library and to help their nations avoid the kind of mistake that leads to catastrophic outcomes.He was aware of the war and the chances of becoming endangered by the futile exchange of bombs between countries attempting to annihilate the civilian population of their adversary. Arrival in a rural location was considered to be the least risky. No one had considered that a heard of cows, spooked by a thunderstorm and a stray lightening bolt, would be a serious problem, nor the fact that the million to one chance of him arriving in front of them would actually happen. He managed to send a distress signal, climbed out of he vehicle and determine it was a right-off and therefore needed to be destroyed. He crossed his fingers and hoped that the super-shielded part of the system on board wasn%u2019t damaged too. He found the screen, tried to turn in on and it worked. He put his face in front of it, identified himself by name and told it to begin the self destruction sequence. His instruction was confirmed and he now ran as far as he could in case it went off too early.The night sky lit up like a bright summer%u2019s day as the vehicle was totally vaporised behind him. He sat down on the grass to take a breather as he was short of breath. He hadn%u2019t ran since he was a boy and was pleased his legs could still manage it. He could see quite well in the dark and looked around himself at the landscape. There were woods to the left of him, hills to the right, and in front on the horizon, the glow of a city currently being bombed. He could even hear the distant sound of the explosions. Probably London, he thought. He should be in a location in Surrey, South of that, and the indications were that he was.Chapter 1: CollisionThe Time Traveller