REAL WORLD: PART THREE Homeward Bound ... - Whoa is (Not)

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’ll be going onto the Internet when I get back…”
“Marty! You’re not thinking eleventh-dimensionally! The e-mails are just one occurrence – many more
things could have happened while you were away. Every action influences the space-time continuum in
ways that might seem insignificant but which have much more far-reaching effects than you might suppose.
Rips were forming in the space-time continuum before you were taken, they were still forming after you were
taken, and they are still forming now. Where the fabric of space-time is concerned, time… is not an issue. If
you were to go back to the time right after you were taken, you would, in effect, be travelling into the past,
where anything you do has the potential to change what happened as you know it.”
Marty looked more bewildered than anything. “How long has it been since I left”
“From what I’ve calculated last night, as of now – 9:26 am, you have been away from your home for a grand
total of fifty-eight hours and fifteen minutes.”
Marty gave a soft whistle. “Wow. But… what would I tell my parents when they ask me where I’ve been
What if they’ve called up the police or… or something…”
For a moment, Doc stared out of the open train door, where several metres away Neo and Verne argued
over three ice cream cones as Ted watched them in amusement. Doc then turned his gaze back to Marty
and fixed his eyes on the teen. “Marty,” he said. “I think that it may be time for your parents to learn the
truth.”
Marty stared at his friend, a look of absolute flabbergastation on his face as Doc’s words slowly sank in.
“What” he asked, as the author glared at the red squiggly line under the word ‘flabbergastation’ and
decided that the Microsoft Word spell check was evil.
Emmett nodded. “You can’t hide it from them forever, Marty. And I think they have a right to know. You
owe them your existence, after all.”
Marty took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“Well…” he said. “You’re the doc, Doc.”
Chapter Thirteen
22 nd December 1985, Sunday, 9:30 am
Hill Valley, California
Police officer Michael R. Gale shook his head in despair as he entered the police car. His colleague entered
the side seat, and Gale started the engine.
Kids these days, he thought, as the car moved down the street towards the main road. They’re always
going missing… ‘Disappeared’. Yeah, right. The way that blonde kid said it, it was as though Ted Logan
just vanished into thin air…
Gale gave a dry chuckle. I bet they’ll find him tomorrow, wandering around some field and claiming that
aliens abducted him… It’ll probably go into one of those kooky UFO newsletters. SpaceWatch, or
something like that…
Then three sonic booms broke the air and Gale nearly sent the car careening into a bush. Slamming on his
brakes, he yanked the door open and leapt out just in time to see a colourful train fly out of nowhere.
Mouth hanging open, he stared transfixed at it as the other policeman came out to see what had happened.
“It’s the aliens,” Gale mumbled. “They’ve come to get me…”
Then he fainted, and Gale knew no more.