Time Travellers From the 1960's

Time Travellers from the 1960's: Ted and Louise

Chapter 1: Going To The Future

Some close friends were very active in the 'New Seminary of the Future'. Robert and Frances were convinced that many of the medical advances which we all expected could not be completed within the ten or twenty year time spans which everyone was talking about. So they opted to move forward to a time when all the advances to come would be far more reliable and complete. They opted to be put asleep for the longest period so far dared - 50 years. (1973-2023) On the evidence of the first few travellers there appeared to be no need to worry. All the travellers whose time was due had woken up fit and healthy right on cue, not a day older according to any observers or according to scientific photographs which were taken before and after, and other tests such as blood and urine tests. However many members of the movement had expressed reservations about taking such risks with time. 50 years would take Robert and Frances well out towards their natural life span boundaries. Would time travel of this sort still work over such time differences? They might end up with senile brains and young bodies, or maybe they would never wake up. Before they went to 'sleep' both of them argued positively that they would be in safer hands waking up further into the future, because science would have continued its path of improvement, and facilities for restoration at the 'other end' would be more reliable.

Ted and Louise discussed their own time span preferences many times, agonising over such a decision, although they were convinced that they would take the plunge into an unknown future to some distance.

"I don't think 5 years is enough," said Ted. "As much as I can't wait to see the late seventies, and I don't really want to miss them, I really don't think things will have changed enough by then to be worth undergoing the experiment. If I am going to be an adventurer, I'm going to have to go a bit further into the future to make it all worthwhile. When we wake up we want to see some real progress, don't we."

"Yes, sure we do," agreed Louise. "We're not just doing this for kicks, are we? We actually want to live in a better time, when a lot of the problems which beset the world today are fixed or at least we've started to get a handle on them. Still I hope you don't mean 50 years like Rob and Frances. I think that's too far for us. They're taking on more unknown risks, and I want to be able to recognise the world we move into, to speak the same language, so to speak."

"Like they said, the further we go into the future the more civilised and progressed the world is likely to be. We could be spoiling it for ourselves if we go for less than 50 years. But perhaps you're right. Less than 50 years and more than 5 then? What do ya think Lou?"

"What do you think its gonna be like in 2003?" asked Frank, as he and Ted relaxed in a downtown bar.

"Better than 1973, that's for sure!" Ted exclaimed over his beer. Frank grinned, but it was a serious question. Ted put a bit more thought into his answer; after all it was a subject he and Louise, and the rest of their group, spent a great deal of time thinking about. They wouldn't be travelling into the future if they did not believe it was going to get better. There were plenty of signs the world was getting better, that it was on an upward spiral of progress. People were starting to care about what went on on the other side of the world. Society was on the move. It would be only a matter of time now before solutions would be found for most of the world's problems, political, social, health, even sexual. The anti war movement in the states was a sign that people wouldn't fight in unnecessary wars any more. Pressures would be increasingly brought to bear on nationalists and political extremists of many kinds to give up fighting and to talk. Make love not war; that slogan made a lot of sense. More and more people were coming to realise that every day, all around the world.

"I think we will have abolished wars by then," declared Ted, following his thought processes. "Just recently we've had Nigeria, Bangladesh, and of course, for us Americans, Vietnam. We've already seen an outpouring of caring and charity. The students and most of America, it now seems, want out of Vietnam. They see the senselessness of a military strategy. Talking surely works better."

"I hope you're right," said Frank. "Just look at what's just been happening in the middle east. Israel and the Arabs just don't seem to be learning. There are no signs of progress."

"That's a difficult one," admitted Ted. "I think there are signs of progress, in people's consciousness. It just needs more time to work through, that's all. Generally I think there will be less poverty in the future. We're learning to prevent economic disasters like the Wall Street stock market crash all the time. Governments know much better what to do to head off unemployment. They're more active in steering their economies now. And now third world and ex colonial states have self government and democracy, now they'll be pursuing policies which will help their people first and foremost. Government for and of the rich will be a thing of the past very soon.

"You think we'll ever get to grips with poverty? There's always someone doing better, but always at someone else's expense," said Frank.

"Of course we will. It's eminently achievable man," declared Ted confidently. "We produce far more foodstuffs than we have mouths to feed, it just doesn't get distributed right, that's all. The problem is definitely solvable. It just takes willpower and organisation. The consciousness is rising. Millions of educated people now want to solve these problems. It's a new phenomena, just give us a bit more time, and we'll get there."

"Could be," said Frank, swayed by his friend's optimism.

"Healthcare and medical knowledge is improving dramatically. We've beaten off TB and we're dealing with malaria. We know more about heart disease, and even cancer. Looks as if there will be effective ways of treatment one day.!"

Chapter 2: Awakening

The vapour mist wafted before her, sweet dreams assailed her. She knew who she was all of a sudden. Feeling returned to her fingers, her breasts filled with promise and the vapour mist responded to stronger breaths by thinning. She imagined the dreams she had just come out of, knowing now that they were not real any more. Perfect male bodies stretched in the sun; there were women she could communicate with, on the same wavelength; the people there were fun, lively and intelligent, unbound by the cumbersome rules of the past; sunshine and leisure. The drabness of the old world of discipline, austerity, war and social control were left behind forever.

Memories resurfaced. She remembered Ted - her boyfriend, partner. They had gone to the New Seminary of the Future together regularly, part of a community of real friends who shared beliefs and expectations. The Seminary wasn't like an old religion. It wasn't a religion at all, but simply a belief in the future, that the future would be better. The organisation had developed the science, in which the body could be put to sleep for 10 or 30 or more years, and be woken up at the prearranged date, to be revitalised and sent out into the new world of the future. Some members had already committed themselves to their belief in a better world in the future, by volunteering to trust in the new techniques. The earliest attemptors had allowed themselves to be put to sleep for just two years. They had awoken with no apparent harmful effects after a full two years of the deepest sleep. Others had followed, then herself and Ted had volunteered. She was aware now that she was awakening from that sleep and began to feel the first feelings of uncertainty and rising panic as she anticipated what she might find when her eyes opened.

They woke up in the same room they had 'gone to sleep' in, belonging to the New Seminary of the Future.

"Hi," said an assistant as Louise came round.

"Hi," responded Louise, she felt okay. "You're wearing a uniform?" she observed of the female attendant.

"Yeah. We all wear uniforms here. You're not the first time travellers from the sixties and seventies to be surprised by that. We find it's more professional this way. Our clients feel they're in better hands if we're properly trained and qualified." The uniform was white with blue bands at the sleeve, collar and hips. It reminded Louise of a nurse's uniform. When she and Ted had 'gone to sleep' there had been no uniforms in the Seminary. They were all free spirits striving for a better and more individual world. The group members had worked voluntarily to give the volunteer travellers a good send off, and to make the procedures work.

"Oh I see. You need a qualification to help the travellers emerge now. Are you volunteer members?" asked Louise. "Your uniform looks a bit like a salaried nurse's."

"Of course," said the girl, who must have been just a few years younger than Louise.

"We're professionals, and as such we have uniforms. We are not volunteers. Naturally we are paid for the work we do. And I am pleased to remind you that your care has been paid for, so you will be well looked after."

"Paid for it?" exclaimed Louise. "I don't recall us paying for this time travel. The seminary members took part in these experiments out of a desire to learn and to reach into a future, which we are sure will be better than the past. How do you mean 'paid for'?"

"I mean just that. When Future Investments took over the operation the New Seminary paid them in shareholdings for the continuing servicing of the earlier New Seminary travellers, such as yourselves. Your organisation paid for your continuing care."

"Oh," exclaimed Louise, finding this a little hard to take in. "So you mean the New Seminary no longer looks after emerging Time Travellers? And 'care' has to be paid for?"

"Yes. Care has already been paid for. You have no need to worry about that. We will look after you. Future investments are the inheritors of the New Seminary. We have put things on a better footing and will ensure that all past present and future clients will be properly looked after in a more professional way than that organisation was capable of."

"When did this change of name occur?" asked Louise, collecting information about this unexpected development which she could not quite understand. She had assumed that the new Seminary would stretch on into the future for at least 30 years and probably many more. They all had. It was a big surprise, but she did not fully understand it, or what this later organisation was all about. She would have to learn more. She reminded herself that she was a stranger (at the end of a) in a future decade. She must have a lot to catch up on, and a lot to learn. At least the room was the same, although she noticed differences in the furnishings. They had accepted the challenge of the new when they had decided to come on this gamble of trust. So far there were things about 'Future Investments' which were not as she had expected.

Lou realised she had been calmed and made comfortable by her conversation, despite its oddness and the unexpected new concepts which it revealed. It had taken her mind off the 'time trip' she had just come out of. She was well aware of having come out of a deep and fuzzy sleep, deeper than any she had ever experienced before. Her mind felt slow, as if it had not been used for a very long time. Otherwise she felt alright, and now she was thinking straight and putting the distraction of that strange conversation she had just had into perspective. She looked around more deliberately than before. She was in the same room she and Ted had departed from, what seemed to be only hours, like a night's sleep ago. "Ted. Where's Ted?" she asked in sudden consternation. She had allowed herself to forget about his wellbeing while she faced her strangely casual awakening. Now she suddenly remembered him. She knew she had made it, but had he?

"He is here," reassured the 'nurse'. "Ted's your partner, right? Mr Edward John Reed. He's next on my list. He's over here. I haven't wakened him yet but I am about to do it. We don't usually do more than one at a time, just in case there are complications. It says you're married, but you don't have the same surname?" she said looking at some typed list.

Louise was greatly relieved to hear Ted was here, even if he was still 'sleeping'. "Oh yes. We chose for me not to take his surname. We feel, felt," she corrected herself, "that the taking of the husband's surname by a wife was very traditional. We are married but we retain our individuality." She could see the top of a box much like the one she was laid in further towards the door. Ted must be in there. She was reassured.

Chapter 3: Exploring The 21st Century

"It will be alright Lou. They may not be quite the organisation we left behind in the seventies but I'm sure they'll help us to find our place in the 2003 world. They will be well adapted to helping us; after all they know their period better than we do," said Ted.

"They do seem very money orientated," said Louise. "If our journey hadn't been paid for I am sure they wouldn't have brought us round at all. They might have dumped our bodies somewhere."

"Oh I don't think so," said Ted. Anyway we're here now aren't we. Nothing terrible has happened, and we're both in working order. I certainly feel on top form. And you look on top form to me." He reached forward and brought her closer to him. She responded immediately, warmly, cradling his face in her hands and kissing him enthusiastically. It did not seem long since they had been this close, as they said goodbye to each other. That felt like only one night ago, as if they had been to sleep for one night. In fact 30 years had taken place in that time, but it did not feel that way, to either of them.

"Let's go to one of these clubs the attendants talked about," suggested Louise. "They seem like the perfect places to meet young swinging people. I've been here for a few days and I am beginning to feel horny. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah let's do that, see what sex is like at the beginning of the twenty first century," agreed Ted. Most of the members of the New Seminary had been believers in the right to swing, and practitioners of that right, on occasions at least, being forward looking people. So far the attendants of Future Investments had been a great disappointment in that regard. Although they loved each other dearly and were strongly committed to each other, both of them believed it was natural and desirable for both of them to try other partners whenever they wished. They had both enjoyed a lot of swinging in their years with the new Seminary, and with people who were not members of the group also.

Ted and Louise were taken after dark from the Future Investments building, which they had known as 'the Seminary' by taxi to a place somewhere near the centre of the city which they had known so well all their lives. Most of it was still recognisable to them. In fact it had changed perhaps less than they had expected. "Have we gone far enough into the future?" asked Ted. "Nothing seems to have changed."

"Oh I don't know. There are buildings here that I've never seen before, although I happen to think it's a shame they pulled down the older buildings which were there before," said Louise.

"I hear you but don't you think the new buildings are pedestrian. They're so conservative, and it's as if they're trying to squeeze in as many apartments as possible into every available plot of land."

"There is a property boom going on currently," said their guide for the evening, a young lady called Belinda, of Future Investments. The 'company' was apparently contracted to look after the couple from the past for a month after 'reemergence'. Ted and Louise would have expected assistance and advice from the Seminary so they were pleased and content to have guides to introduce them to whatever changes the future times held for them. Belinda was good company. She gave the positive impression that she was 'game for everything', which appealed particularly to Ted, who found her quite attractive. Belinda was keen on clubbing, she said. Louise felt Belinda was rather formal in her work, and she tended to speak very fast, injecting much unwanted detail into her explanations, which Louise found rather unnerving, particularly as she didn't have a clue what the girl was going on about half the time, but she warmed to the young lady as her obvious passion for clubbing became obvious. Ted found her quite mesmerising in her crisp efficiency, and probably felt rather overwhelmed by her ability and knowledge, which served to make her more mysterious and attractive to him.

The taxi and other cars they had seen impressed Ted. They were sleek and modern looking. Designs had surely moved on since the early seventies, although they were not radically different. Ted's fantasies about cars becoming airborne, and fuelled by natural air or water instead of oil appeared not to have come true, yet at any rate. However the taxi driver, with whom Ted exchanged a few questions about technical matters did also say there were many more cars on the roads today than in the seventies. He said they would notice the difference when they went out in the daytime. It was evident to Ted that the taxi driver did not really believe they were from the past. The man was merely humouring them and enjoying what he thought was a joke. So the activities of the New Seminary/ Future Investments were not commonly known among the 2003 population. Ted had imagined that the people of the future would have known all about the possibilities of this form of time travel by 2003, but it appeared that either the New Seminary or Future Investments had taken the decision not to publicise their activities too widely, for whatever reason.

Young Belinda led Ted and Louise along the street after being dropped off nearby by the taxi. Apparently, due to the time, they were going to go straight into the club. It was the common practice of what Belinda called 'clubbers' to go to bars first, to drink a few intoxicating drinks, before proceeding towards the clubs where, apparently, 'everything happens'. Not much had changed here then, they thought. Ted's anticipation was rising, becoming a form of exhilaration which he had not felt for a long time, fuelled by the sight of the beautiful young women of the city all around them, in their flimsy clothes, which seemed to be designed to enhance their human female shape, not unlike the fashions of his own time. He saw plenty of mini skirts, which had still been pretty fashionable back in '73. The promise of those television glimpses he had seen recently into this world of sexual excitement seemed about to be fulfilled. His exhilaration contained an element of fear, as he was about to step into the unknown, as if it had not been only a few weeks in his consciousness since he had last flirted with women who were strangers to him.

Ted sensed excitement in Louise also. She had not been to 'clubland' for a while. However she had never had problems attracting the opposite sex. Men were always very happy to oblige her when she offered. She could be quite fussy about men. She seemed to regard Ted as satisfactory for most of her requirements, but there were sometimes occasions when she got carried away and could be as predatory as any man. It was a matter of mood and inspiration for her. If she saw somebody who really attracted her she could go all out. Sometimes when she was in the mood, she just wanted to 'let her hair down'.

Marriage, of course, was still the partnership arrangement aspired to and probably most common at the beginning of the twenty first century. With it came the mutual commitment to be sexually loyal to each other, just as in the sixties and early seventies, denying the flexibility that the 'partnerships' of the progressive groups in the society of his past had aspired to. Because of the 'evidence' to the contrary, which Ted had observed in his viewing of 'modern' television Ted had been tending to discount the validity of the 'official' version of the social system of this future reality. A large proportion of the programmes and films he had watched on TV recently had portrayed marriage as an old convention, still common, but its old rules no longer being observed by the characters in the programmes.