Brooks and Weinbach: Time Travel Story

[Oakvale]

We surrender.

[Reaganfan]

BACK IN 2042, PRESIDENT AUSTIN C. BROOKS PACES AROUND A CONFERENCE TABLE IN THE LABORATORY WITH DR. LEO ALTERMOSS AND OTHER SCIENTISTS. HE LOOKS AT HIS WATCH. AT THAT INSTANT, A SPECTACULAR LIGHT APPEARS IN THE LARGE ROOM. A NARROW PORTAL OPENS AND DR. MOLLY CALLOW STEPS OUT OF IT. DAZED. CONFUSED.

Brooks: Dear Lord....GET HER MEDICAL ATTENTION NOW!!!
Doctor: Yes, Mr. President.

MOLLY CALLOW IS RESILIENT.

Callow: TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME! NOW! STOP!
Brooks: Molly, are you hurt?
Callow: We have to go back!
Altermoss: Where?
Callow: 1943. Warsaw Poland. It's the S.S. They're trying to kill Newton! We must go back for him!
Brooks: (Puts his hands on Molly's shoulders) We can't dear. We can't.
Callow: YES WE CAN. I KNOW THE EXACT DATE AND LOCATION. WE GO BACK TO MAY 1943, WE GET NEWTON...WE BRING HIM BACK...MR. PRESIDENT...
Brooks: Shhhh...it's alright, Molly. He's fine.
Callow: No he's not fine, he's shot, he's bleeding...we have to help him.

MOLLY BEGINS CRYING AND KNEELS ON THE FLOOR. PRESIDENT BROOKS KNEELS NEXT TO HER.

Brooks: Molly. Look at me, Molly. Newton Weinbach is just fine.
Callow: How-how can you be...sure?
Brooks: Because he told me.

PRESIDENT BROOKS STANDS UP AND PULLS AN ENVELOPE OUT OF HIS SUIT JACKET AND PULLS A PIECE OF PAPER FROM THE ENVELOPE.

Brooks: I received this letter in August of 2003. I was at the University of Missula at the time, and had just lost my wife four years before.

DEAR AUSTIN BROOKS,

YOU DON'T KNOW ME, BUT SOMEDAY YOU WILL. MY NAME IS NEWTON WEINBACH. I AM 96 YEARS OLD AND IN THE TWILIGHT YEARS OF MY LIFE. AS I DO NOT EXPECT TO LIVE MUCH LONGER, I'VE DECIDED TO WRITE TO YOU TO EXPLAIN WHAT WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN THE TWO OF US IN THE FUTURE.

I ESCAPED FROM POLAND DURING THE SUMMER OF 1943. I WORKED AS A TEACHER IN BONN, GERMANY. I MARRIED A WONDERFUL WOMAN NAMED CLAIRE IN 1947. I MADE SURE TO MOVE US TO WESTERN GERMANY PRIOR TO SOVIET OCCUPATION. WE HAVE TWO CHILDREN, BOTH STILL LIVING AS OF TODAY, WHO FOR THEIR FUTURE SAKE I WILL KEEP NAMELESS.

I HAVE KEPT THIS SECRET PRIVATE UNTIL NOW, REFUSING TO SUBJECT MYSELF TO ACCUSATIONS AND PERSECUTION OR EVEN TRIAL AS ONE OF THE INSANE. I WISH TO IMPRESS UPON YOU THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS LETTER, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING YOUR NOW KNOWN FUTURE SECRET. YOU WILL BE 23 YEARS OLD WHEN YOU READ THIS, BUT I WILL KNOW YOU AS A MAN OF 63 YEARS OF AGE. YOU WILL BE A VERY IMPORTANT PERSON FOR HISTORY, THAT IS ALL I AM WILLING TO SAY.

MY TOMBSTONE WILL SAY I WAS BORN IN 1907 BUT I WAS ACTUALLY BORN IN 2007. WHEN YOU READ THIS, I WILL HAVE YET TO BE BORN DESPITE MY BEING AN OLD MAN.

I LIVED A VERY LONG, PROSPEROUS AND HAPPY LIFE. FILLED WITH ENJOYMENT, PLEASURE AND WONDER. I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WILL KNOW MY FATE PRIOR TO MY OWN KNOWING IT. I UNDERSTAND BY READING THIS LETTER, YOU WILL KNOW WHAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN 2042. YOU WILL KNOW THE OUTCOME BEFOREHAND. BUT YOU MUST REMAIN SILENT OR ELSE MY LIFE HERE, MY CHILDREN, WILL CEASE TO EXIST.

Brooks: I knew everything.
Callow: You knew? You knew what was going to happen all this time?
Brooks: Yes.
Callow: Why didn't you stop us? Why didn't you say something?
Brooks: Newton Weinbach lived a wonderful life. He lived a long, fruitful, happy life. He was a teacher, a husband, a father. He was content with his life. Had I stopped this from all occurring, that life of his would have ceased to exist. He asked me not to do that, and I complied.

SILENCE GRIPS THE ROOM AS BROOKS, ALTERMOSS, CALLOW AND A FEW SELECT DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS STAND IN UTTER DISBELIEF.

Brooks: I told Weinbach that I was an honest politician. Many believe there is no such thing. Politicians have to say certain things to assure themselves chances at victory. But I've known for 40 years that I was going to be President of the United States. Knowing that, I never needed to tell a lie, never needed to waiver from my beliefs, and I never did. I don't know what else the future holds from here on out, but I can tell you one thing, Dr. Callow.
Callow: Yes, Mr. President?
Brooks: Weinbach loved you. He knew he wasn't going to come back.
Callow: I know he did, sir.

OVER A YEAR LATER, PRESIDENT BROOKS WALKS INTO A BABY'S ROOM. HE PICKS UP A BABY BOY FROM THE CRIB AND HOLDS HIM, SITS DOWN IN A ROCKING CHAIR, LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AT THE SUNRISE. THE BABY LETS OUT A COO THAT SOUNDS LIKE, "Dah". PRESIDENT BROOKS SMILES.

Brooks: I'm not your daddy...but let me tell you a story about a man who is...

THE END.