But Sara was not in a mood to appreciate nature and its small wonders. She listened to John, stunned and totally astonished.
"So that's the idea," John ended triumphantly. "When we get our slot at the Time Machine next week, we'll send these beautiful theories to Newton's time. Sir Isaac Newton's time. Let him understand Einstein and relativity and all that. I'll bet that he will never attempt his theory after that!"
Sara sat up abruptly. Her eyes were wide open. "We get the time machine for research," she said firmly. "Not for these silly tricks. Haven't many tried before and got caught?"
John gave a wild laugh. "I will not be one of those dumb guys!" His eyes crinkled mischievously. "I have the most sound plan ever!"
Sara gave a disgusted look and got up. With an uneasy taste in her mouth, she jumped off the lawn, on the tiny path, and walked away.
She tried to spend the next six days away from John. Thinking about the consequences of disturbing the flow of the time. And thinking about how reckless a senior research student like John can be.
She was extra careful when their time came. She checked and rechecked John's belongings several times. Even tipped the security people about him. But he was absolutely clear.
They were quarantined together for five hours. By the end of that she felt tired and totally drained. The little slot at the Time Machine had lost its charm for her. She dreaded if John could still take a crack at sending something in the past.
John was cool and whistling softly. As a last attempt, she tried to stop him before entering the massive control room. "John, no material things," she said.
"OK," he threw his hands up and continued whistling.
Once they were inside, the control group set the Time Machine at Newton's time and his estimated location at that time. Sara took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on what she could see in the giant window.
Suddenly John straightened and started reciting the theory of relativity in a loud and clear voice, sending the sound waves back in time.
By the time Sara realized that, and pulled the emergency lever, the critical information had reached Newton.
Next instant, there was no Time Machine.
Instead there was a huge speaker and some marvelous, almost magic-like acoustic machinery. The Time Research Center was nowhere in sight. Its great empty space was filled with heavenly musical notes.
John merely shrugged. And still with a dazzled expression on his face, he reiterated a known truth.
"Apparently, Newton was so thrilled to receive sound waves from the future, that he had abandoned all his ongoing research work and had directed his entire effort only towards research in sound! "
Meghashri Dalvi is a well-established science fiction writer in India. Her stories are published in Marathi, a regional language of India, and translated in English / other regional languages. Her short stories have won numerous prizes.
She is engineer by profession and enjoys popular science writing, too. Her first book about machines and their history has won her accolades.
E-mail: meghashri_dalvi@hotmail.com
Visit Aphelion's Lettercolumn and voice your opinion of this story.
Return to the Aphelion main page.