Page 45 of Promises to Keep

“Yes, from out there, or do you think humans on this planet invented it?”

He thought for a moment. “Twas men who carried it tae the original place.”

“Yes, but maybe they stole it from aliens, like how Johnne Campbell stole it from them?”

His eyes went back and forth, calculating and thinking. “I watched the movie with the kids, ye ken, Star Wars, I think it canna be aliens, else we would be time-jumping and accidentally landin’ on other planets.”

I looked at his face in horror. “Thankheavensthat wasn’t in the mix.”

He chuckled. “Aye, I wouldna like tae end up on a desert planet with two moons.”

“Me neither.”

“Also, we operate the vessel with our hands, nae our tentacles, or our flippers or… ye ken? It must be human.”

I nodded. “So yeah, I agree, it seems like humans, earthbound humans.”

He looked at me with his brow raised. “Why are they earthbound humans, mo reul-iuil, dinna ye say that we were headed tae Mars?”

“Oh, I suppose I did.”

“Someone verra far advanced in the future built the vessels and the Bridge, they figured out how tae alter time, tae create alternate timelines and tae augment the jumpin’ from one tae the other.” He shrugged. “They must be verra advanced, and they hae nae missed the vessels, as they haena returned for them.”

“Or maybe they plan to return for them but are so advanced, so far in the future, that our hopping around on the timeline back here in the past is of no concern to them. Like, if they were giants, like Jack and the beanstalk, and Jack is worried about the beans, and the giants are just polishing their golden eggs — you know that story?”

“I heard it when I was wee, a visitin’ poet told the bairns the story, though twas nae the same as the one Emma reads tae Isla and Zoe. In the one in the past there was a great deal more gore.”

“I’m glad that’s not how Emma tells it. But yeah, maybe the advanced people who invented the vessels are just doing nothing and plan to come for them later, maybe this whole time, from the year 1557 to now, they’ve been having lunch. Maybe they’re going to have a wee nap and then come down and deal with us.” I comically gulped.

He grew quiet.

“Did I blow your mind?”

“Aye, and I feel verra small.”

“They might not be literal giants, I might be wrong.”

“They must be verra inventive though, they must have a great many resources tae be able tae command such a voyage of discovery, and that they daena care about the vessels means they are well above our means. They must hae wealth beyond our imaginings.”

“Or… and hear me out, they came back in time, and didn’t calculate on the issue that if they changed the past they might affect the future.”

“They would nae be verra smart.”

“True, but maybe they didn’t know. Maybe Johnne Campbell from back in 1557, and the men who came after him, began going into the future and stealing from the tech and maybe they stole so much tech, that they disrupted the timeline. What if they made the invention of the vessels impossible?”

“Ye sound like Zach when he is ravin’ like a madman.”

I said, “I do a little…”

“If they did make the invention of the vessels impossible, we wouldna hae vessels, anyone can see it, mo reul-iuil.”

“Unless it was space aliens.”

“Aye, that is the only answer.”

“It’s always damn space aliens.”

Magnus said, “And perhaps when those wee aliens saw me use the vessels, a king twice over, building a large family — they were awestruck by my mastery. Perhaps they said, ‘We ought nae bother him, King Magnus has the history of the world all under control.’”

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