Fantasy novel "Time Traders" ⇐ General

[Guest]

Good day everyone!
You need to register to see the link.
I love writing fantasy novels. I present the beginning of one of them to your attention for evaluation. If someone likes it, I will publish a sequel. It is already completely finished and I can publish new chapters according to the interest of those who will read it. So...
— Time traders — You need to register to see the link.
Alex Foley opened his eyes. On the matte ceiling of his bedroom, holographic images of planets in space slowly floated, quiet music sounded, then green letters lit up: “GOOD MORNING!” Stretching in the bed, he got out of it and sleepily walked into the bathroom, habitually not paying attention to the fact that as soon as he got up the bed itself silently hid in a niche in the wall as if it wasn’t there. Fifteen minutes later, Alex, snorting after taking a cold shower, jumped out of there, drying himself with a terry towel, humming a popular tune under his breath. The electronic voice of the “smart home” politely greeted him from somewhere above:
- Good morning, Alex! How are you feeling? Did you sleep well? Today we have rain. The window blinds opened along with the windows and the sound of rain, the freshness of wet asphalt and the smell of ozone, like after a thunderstorm, rushed into the room. Alex went to the window and looked out: crimson-gray clouds slowly floated across the sky along the spiers of skyscrapers, reflected in their tinted glass, throwing a fine warm rain onto the ground. Meanwhile, the mechanical voice continued:
—The temperature outside the window is +75.5 degrees Fahrenheit or, if you prefer, +24 Celsius. I'm sure today is a wonderful day, despite the rain! Oh, how I love the rain, there is so much poetry in it... - Alex winced with displeasure, the technicians sewed everything they could into these “smart home” programs. - You know Alex, I found in my memory the lines of one famous poet who so beautifully described the rain...
Alex interrupted his eloquence:
- Hey, that's enough for now. I need to get to work. Let's organize breakfast and what I should wear today. You could hear the coffee maker whirring in the kitchen and the oven starting to cook hot sandwiches. From the wall of the built-in closet came a long hanger on which his clothes hung for different occasions. The same mechanical voice from the ceiling with a touch of an esthete suggested that he wear minimalism today: jeans that could take on any color he wanted, a red cowboy shirt on the back of which slowly moved planets embroidered with holographic threads around which a dragon from ancient legends entwined. Tie a bright scarf around his neck, the color depending on his mood, a black polysynthetic raincoat with a drying function, and high leggings on his feet. Alex agreed and five minutes later, already dressed, he entered the kitchen. His breakfast was on the table. “Kitchen, turn on channel 24+...,” he commanded. A piece of the kitchen panel turned into a huge screen on which a cheerful, long-haired presenter talked about the latest events in the world. Alex took a sip of coffee and grabbed a warm sandwich and stared at the screen. The presenter talked about the latest events in the world. Nothing new. Three local conflicts in third world countries (again power was not shared), the ongoing malaria epidemic in the Mauritanian Islands, on the Moon and Mars, children were born to new colonists... scientists continue to test a new cure for the Wagner virus on volunteers... The hand-held chronometer on his hand beeped . A message came from the agency. He looked through it and, having finished his coffee, quickly headed towards the exit. Jumping out of the entrance of the house, he jumped onto the moving sidewalk; fortunately, it was equipped with a canopy made of a force field and the bad weather did not interfere with riding comfortably on it. The moving sidewalk was a good alternative to taxis, if only because it was free. Representatives of different segments of the population used it while going about their business. Monocars on magnetic levitation were moving past them on the highway. Mail modules, high-speed couriers and air trains raced through the air. Holographic advertising screens hung right in the air from the edge above the moving sidewalks, moving with them. Alex, trying not to look in their direction, mentally activated the virtual glasses. The information chip in his head selected and turned on the music channel. About ten minutes later he stepped off the sidewalk onto the monorail platform. With the fiery rhythms of the music playing in his head, he squeezed into a huge, long, streamlined, cigar-shaped carriage with square windows. The electronic scanner beeped as he put his thumb on the screen and the amount of 2 travel credits was deducted from his account. After four stops, he went out onto the platform of the city's shopping center and quickly jumped onto another moving sidewalk that took him to where skyscrapers of offices and administrative buildings, made of glass and concrete, reigned. Against their background rose the bulk of a pyramid-shaped structure made entirely of tinted, polished rectangular glass blocks. On its façade, a huge hologram sign hung in the air: “Time Agency.” In the upper right corner shimmered numbers showing the current date, time, year. 8 hours 13 minutes, June 12, 2197. From left to right, a running line ran the inscription: “Travel to any era and year. Unforgettable and absolutely safe travel through time. Best prices. Best memories.” And then part of the screen split in half and, as if from a cornucopia, ancient Egyptian pyramids, Columbus ships, knights on horses, extinct billions of years ago dinosaurs, Roman legionnaires and a host of other historical characters suddenly poured straight onto the road, replacing each other at a frantic pace. come to life thanks to a super realistic hologram. As soon as this flow dried up, the inscription appeared: “Allow yourself this...” Alex winced. He had been working as a guide for this company for a couple of years now, and this advertising slogan made him a little nervous. Every guide knew that all this time travel for rich slackers was not so safe.
Entering through the glass doors into the lobby, he found himself in a huge hall. The filters on the windows let in diffused light, and the air conditioners hummed quietly, bringing coolness. In the center of the room there was a small fountain with a pool where live exotic fish swam. There was a slight smell of dust and old things in the room. Everything around was filled with various exhibits, which were hung on the walls, stood on the floor, and sat on special stands. This entire exhibition was assembled so that visitors could see how people lived in different eras. Behind it was the reception desk, where the beautiful blond Elaine sat, she was 27, divorced and it was rumored that she was the boss’s mistress... She sat in her an oasis of indoor plants, surrounded by virtual monitors and taking orders from clients. He approached her and put a smile on his face:
- Hello! How are we doing?!
- It seems good... You have a transfer today. Here, take a look... - she thrust a thin tablet with a task into his hands.
He ran his eyes through it and nodded, then smiled sweetly at Elaine and, waving his hand at her, went to the main entrance.
- Good luck, Alex! - He heard already near the door. The service doors leading to the corridor of the control center could compete with bank doors in terms of security level. He attached his pass to the scanning device, gave his full identification number, put his eyes to the retinal scanning device and at the same time his palm to the tomograph. Only then did a cold metallic voice inform him that he had access to levels A, B and C. The door opened and he entered a long narrow corridor with walls made of polished metal. I turned to the door marked “Service Personnel”, again applied my pass to the scanner and the door opened. Inside there was a metal army camp bunk bed with mattresses, a small fiberglass table, a couple of bedside tables, a coffee machine and pneumatic boxes for ordering food and goods. Three iron lockers and folding plastic chairs. Alex opened the door of his and changed into a uniform gray overalls with the agency emblem depicting a curved, spread-out watch dial. Two more partners worked with him, but all at different times, so they only crossed paths here from time to time. Today was the day when several groups of clients turned out to be transferred. Alex was soon joined by his second partner, Stephen Buck, a strong, blue-eyed man with straw-colored hair and a peculiar sense of humor. While they were changing clothes, Buck managed to tell him how in the past, with his group of three young people, they visited the ancient Easter Island before the first sailors reached it. They took with them cheap glass jewelry and some discarded junk lying around in the warehouse. They presented all this as gifts to the local natives, which white people had never seen before and who took them for Gods. Clients paid for three whole days of stay on the island and all this time indulged in debauchery and gluttony. The young girls of the island considered it an honor to sleep with the Gods, the rest brought them food and were ready to fulfill their every desire... Three days later, the clients were so imbued with the local atmosphere and hospitality that they began to ask me to leave them there forever! - Buck laughed out loud. - Alex , can you imagine, they wanted to stay there! I had to put them to sleep and teleport them already asleep to our time. If we indulged the wishes of all clients like this, we would change the past and the future beyond recognition. - Buck suddenly became serious and sighed thoughtfully:
- Eh, you should have seen these natives...
Alex chuckled and clapped in response partner on the shoulder and went out into the lobby of the building. Inside the Time Agency, near the fountain, there were two groups of people consisting of men, women and teenage children. Quiet, calm music was playing, and there were small camp tables with glasses of champagne, outlets with black and red caviar, and various snacks especially for clients. The guests treated themselves, communicated with each other, and everyone tried to understand how influential his interlocutor was in this world. The head of the “time agency,” David Merlow himself, came out to them, as always, in a chic business suit and shiny black ostrich leather shoes. With precise movements of well-groomed hands, he greeted clients with the words:
- Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Time Travel Agency. I would like to note right away that only we have a license from the government for time travel and everything that you see will happen in reality, without any illusions or virtual reality. You will go to exactly the time and era you choose yourself. You will see exactly the event that you yourself want to see. For some time you will be able to plunge into the period where you are going. Exciting events and a lot of positive emotions await you. The entire process will be recorded and will remain with you as a souvenir from our company. Each group of you will be accompanied by our guide who will monitor your safety and so that you can return home. In addition, he will be able to tell you about the era where you are going. But! We have some restrictions (he raised his index finger expressively): We do not travel into the future (since this is technically impossible and, in addition, it is prohibited by the convention that monitors time travel). Nothing can be changed in the past. You cannot meet yourself in the past, because two matters cannot be at the same point at the same time. Our wonderful guides will tell you everything else (he allowed himself a slight smile). Each of you will receive period-appropriate clothing and equipment, which will also remain as a souvenir. So, gentlemen! Happy Travel! And I am handing you over to the reliable hands of our guides, who will bring you up to date.
Alex got a group of a whole family consisting of a father, his wife and two over-aged sons - dunces who, judging by their well-fed faces, did not refuse anything. Alex was already aware of his route, but he still needed to clarify some details related to the transfer and conduct briefings with his family. Taking the tablet in his hands and filling in the technical information, he looked at the group waiting for him. So, this family paid a tidy sum in order to visit the shores of the Cambrian Sea. In the era when life on Earth was just emerging, arthropod invertebrate creatures were found on land and in water, i.e. before the dinosaurs appeared. The family will warm their fat asses on the shore, admire the prehistoric sights, and as a bonus, he will fry some exotic inhabitant of the local fauna over the fire and in a couple of hours they will depart back. Of course, on such trips there was always a risk of meeting some giant dragonfly or the great-great-ancestor of a crocodile, which, due to the high oxygen content in the air, had a larger size and, accordingly, the same appetite, and could easily dine on one of the time travelers. But fortunately this happened extremely rarely, and only in certain historical eras.
- So, Mr. and Mrs. uh... (he looked into the tablet addressing the husband and wife of the family) Simon and Victoria Wells, we are going to shore of the Cambrian sea. Please proceed to our guest locker room where you will receive your travel uniform. The family, buzzing like a flock of disturbed birds, walked together into one of the five changing cabins, where they put their personal cards on the scanner, in seconds they were scanned by a metric device, and in a couple of minutes the 8D printer produced and gave them clothes of the required size and fit. In this case, these were gray overalls made of heavy-duty fabric with a company patch and black high boots fastened around the ankle with heating and ventilation functions, resistant to any natural disasters. In addition, each of them received a compact apparatus for breathing oxygen, because... the atmosphere at that time had not yet fully formed; the air there was saturated with hydrogen sulfide and was not suitable for full breathing. After everyone was ready and came out to him, Alex continued:
- You need to listen to a short safety briefing. So, while you are there, you are not allowed to leave or move more than 2 meters away from each other, and unless I give you permission... You are not allowed to bring anything with you, break it, or somehow influence the world around you in where will you be without my permission again? No unauthorized contacts or actions without....
- ...Your permission! - Simon Wells finished his sentence for him, making a dissatisfied grimace. - Mr. Guide, when will we finally go to the sea? I didn't pay so much money for your empty talk. I myself know what can and cannot be done... Let's finally go! - His sons grumbled approvingly. Alex could hardly restrain a caustic remark addressed to him, but pulled himself together, smiled dazzlingly and made a gesture with his hand:
—Please follow me.
After leading the group along the famous corridor, they entered a large room. There were no windows, the walls were made of non-static carbon plastic, behind which control chips were hidden inside. In the corner behind the massive doors was the brain of the time machine. Behind the power partition sat two local technicians, Charlie and Danny, dressed in white coats, working their magic over touch monitors and sensors. They were responsible for the stable operation of the time machine, corrected the direction and could quickly solve the problem if something suddenly went wrong. There were five vertical chairs in the center of the room. A huge purple ball hung under the ceiling, shimmering with radiance and radiating energy. Alex put everyone in their seats, took them out of the special ones. locker, a stun gun on a long handle and a huge cleaver in a sheath. He put all this in his emergency metal container, where there was everything for all cases of extreme conditions, and took his place next to everyone. He raised his gloved thumb up, signaling to the technicians that they were ready. Half a minute later the noise intensified, turning into a roar. Safety frames fell on their shoulders, preventing them from moving. The roar turned into an ultrasonic hum that began to put pressure on the ears. The purple ball under the ceiling flickered more intensely and began to throw out blue clots of energy that began to circle around them in a round dance. They were enveloped in a bluish glow. And...at that moment, it was as if something exploded in their brains. Bright light. Then the blackness of space and stars rushing by at great speed... Then again a bright flash and the feeling that the body was about to disintegrate into atoms and dissolve in the depths of the universe, but after a couple of seconds they suddenly found themselves floating a few centimeters above the gray-white sand. A short moment of falling and everyone falls on him in surprise. Alex looked around: they were on an endless beach consisting of a trillion small and not very small shells of the most bizarre shapes. Many have already turned into small crumbs, others still retain their shape. The sea rolled its blue waves right in front of them. The shore was covered with green and red algae. To their left, sheer volcanic gray cliffs hung with liquid vegetation similar to moss. The air was thick and humid, smelling of sulfur. It was unusually difficult to breathe; there was clearly not enough oxygen in the atmosphere. Alex gave a sign for everyone to put breathing masks on their faces, just in case he checked his chronometer, no, everything is in order, they are in place. So they have three hours, then they will automatically come back. The time machine's timer is programmed for this. In case of any unforeseen situations, he had the opportunity to return with the help of his personal chronometer, which not only determined the location in space, but also had the ability to provide comprehensive information about any era. Soon the sun should appear from behind the crimson clouds and it will become hot. He turned to his group, which looked with amazement at a world alien to them.