I'm currently writing Chapter 8 of the science fiction story
Old Time Gaming.
Rylla has been given the task of accelerating the pace of scientific and technological advance in Australia, in order to allow for the early discovery of a special family of fundamental particles: the
hierions. That discovery will not take place until the 21st century, but Rylla has been sent to the 19th century in order to begin re-shaping the historical timeline of Earth. Rylla dreams of founding a college of nutrition in
Perth at the earliest possible date.
In Chapters 8 and 9, Rylla is trying to initiate an English expedition to western Australia in 1814, more than a decade before Perth is first settled in the original timeline that she studied when being trained by the tryp'At for her mission on Earth.
To stimulate increased English interest in the Perth area, Rylla plays the game of stoking fears that the French might colonize western Australia. Rylla spreads rumors proclaiming that the French have already founded a settlement in western Australia. Rylla hopes to pay for her planned expedition to the west by using gold that her team has mined in the hills near Sydney.
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| Nicolas Thomas Baudin |
Originally, the Dutch were the first Europeans to explore western Australia (New Holland). The image above this paragraph shows a Dutch map that was drawn using information collected by early explorers. Shortly before the time period of the events in
Old Time Gaming (the events of the story taking place in Australia begin in 1814) the French also sent a scientific expedition to western Australia, led by
Nicolas Baudin. That expedition had two ships,
Géographe and
Naturaliste and among the crews of those ships was a group of scientists.
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| Bavaria |
The French had a long history of support for expeditions to distant locations in search of medicinal plants and other useful biological discoveries. For example, a large number of botanists went with Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798. In our Reality,
Anselme Riedlé died during the Baudin expedition to New Holland. However, for
Old Time Gaming, I imagine a special fate for Riedlé, who was born in the part of Europe that is now known as Bavaria.
After writing Chapters 6 and 7 of
Old Time Gaming, I decided to switch their order. I like the way that
Isaac Asimov did not constrain himself to a simple linear narrative for his time travel novel
The End of Eternity. The events of Chapter 7 take place before those in
Chapter 6. However, there are actually two versions of what happens after Rylla allows
Captain Doones into her cottage during a rain storm. Manny makes it possible for Rylla to retain memories of one
Reality in which Doones has an exciting three-way sexual encounter with Rylla and her maid, Liza, although Manny is forced to erase that Reality from existence. At the time when Rylla first meets Doones, she is making use of the body of
Sophie McKnight, a school teacher. Doones is already suspicious: how does a cute school teacher discover gold in the Outback? He'd never believe that Sophie is a French spy and go off with her to western Australia on a lark.
Manny never hesitates to make multiple copies of her agents. A second copy of Rylla, able to use her original bodily form, makes a concerted effort to beguile Captain Doones and convince him to join the expedition to western Australia. Manny also warns Rylla to not give up on the Captain, even when the situation seems bleak. Due to Rylla's persistence, at the very last minute Doones joins Rylla and a small group of settlers for the journey to western Australia.
Also traveling with Rylla is Abigail Longfellow, a young writer who has an interesting assortment of Asterothrope gene patterns. Rylla slowly comes to realize that Abigail is one of her ancestors and that Rylla is playing a roll in creating a historical timeline for Earth in which she can come into existence. Rylla's discovery of this strange loop in time allows her to realize that her activity in the 1800s has not created a different historical timeline, but rather, has made her own life possible.
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From the archives of the Writers Block
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When the expedition from Sydney reaches the area where Perth will eventually be founded, they discover Riedlé, his lover, Kardynya (from a native
healing family) living on an island. Rylla and her small group of settlers link up with Riedlé and Kardynya and live on that island for the next 15 years before ultimately moving to the mainland. That island is known as
Garden Island.
Also among that small group of settlers is George White, son of a doctor in Sydney. George was sailing for England in order to attend medical school, but he ends up staying at the settlement on Garden Island and founding the western Australian White family lineage of farmers that eventually gives rise to Georgy White, the discoverer of anti-gravity hierions.
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| Rylla and Abigail have Asterothrope features. |
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As part of an effort by
R. Nyrtia to cover-up the discovery of hierions, Georgy ends up being sent to
Observer Base by
Maria Green. Having already crossed paths with Maria Green in 1814, it takes until 1830 before Rylla realizes that the
Phari endosymbiont of her friend Abigail can serve as a convenient "tracking device" for the lurking Maria Green.
There is a link between time travel and telepathy. Because of Rylla's special Asterothrope gene combinations, her brain is well-suited for telepathic communication. Rylla also has some ability to link into information resources that exist in the sedron domain, including information about future events.
Using her ability to "see the future", and with some help from Manny the bumpha, Rylla is able to prevent Maria Green from interfering with Rylla's attempt to accelerate technological developments on Earth.
Related Reading: science fiction in 1817.
Next: Part 6 of Old Time Gaming.
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