Traveller Manifesto
80. Palestine - 11th Century

Palestine – 11th Century.

Colonel Sergey Lieberman swore and shook his head, bewildered at the questionable order. He had been ordered, in no uncertain terms, to evacuate and then have the last man destroy the Transporter.

He was a good soldier. Over twenty years in the job had taught him that. But to supervise the destruction of the Transporters?

Being Project Commander for Israel Traveller had been the most exciting experience of his life. Especially in jumping back to the time of 2000BC. Everyone knew it was really around the year 1970 or ’80 BC, but 2000BC sounded better. To visit the home of his ancestors, to breathe their air, feel the soil of their homeland and experience the thrill of visiting such a remote past was more than magical.

Thankfully, all had progressed smoothly. He had already supervised the transfer of the majority of equipment and personnel. Anderson, as usual, was to lead another patrol to old Jerusalem. He had seen the footage, of course, and looked forward to more. As Commander, his was not the privilege to explore that ancient land. How he would have loved to don a pack, take a weapon and wander those hills and valleys, but that honour was not to be his. It felt like he was a child who viewed a fun-park through the window of a car as it drove past.

Witnessing the Romans had been remarkable enough. The slaughter. God! What a mess! Good to their promise, the Romans remained distant. Yet, even as his troops burned the carcasses of the slain horses and their enemies, they knew the Romans kept watch. The infra-red vision on the UAV’s identified them as they crouched at night or slept around their lonely campfire. Perhaps it really was wisest to leave the past in the past.

But all costs made it worthwhile to actually see the Temple! The vision was crystal-clear and his heart had broken at it. Each of the Jews in the team had been moved at a level few realised they possessed, as if the great God himself had personally touched each of their hearts. Wait till the modern world saw that footage, that the Temple really existed. It made him proud to his very core.

He took a shaky, satisfied breath as he brought his thoughts back on track. Yes, equipment and personnel had been evacuated from Camps Alpha and Beta. Tents and computer hard drives were shipped dutifully back to the 21st Century and each team member was to be thoroughly debriefed. This had happened often enough for them all to be used to the standard procedures. But the confusion surrounding the evacuation of Camps Gamma and Delta still persisted. The emphasis was to ensure the maximum research was achieved in the two most significant times. To the frustration of all, they had barely begun operations in the time period some described as the Era of the Patriarchs. They had their celebration and now UAV and foot patrol reconnaissance was under way. Yet his orders were now to return to the 21st Century and supervise the evacuations. It rankled. He had preferred the concept of the captain being the last from the sinking ship, but orders were orders. Anderson and his team would no doubt soon return after they had evacuated most of Camp Delta.

He stood in the Area of Convergence and, as he waited for the activation that would take him to home, gear from 1000BC arrived in the Area of Convergence of Transporter two.

He looked forward to some leave. After this mission was put to bed, he would take his teenage daughters to Haifa and get some beach time.

Colonel Lieberman casually checked his watch.

Then, he was gone.