No Time for a Life Story

"Who are you?" Doc asks.

"There's no time for my life's story," Dr. Ritenrong responds. "I am a time traveler. I have seen the destruction of Earth in the distant future, and I am trying to stop it, or at least avoid it."

"What do you want with a corncob pipe?"

"It is a vessel. I can use it to travel through time. My device creates a static temporal bubble on any concave surface. Unlike the generators in the Smithsonian, the wormhole persists throughout the existence of that object. Instead of reaching from the time the cavity formed to the time the generator is turned off, my wormholes reach from the creation of the cavity until the cavity is destroyed. Entering into the wormhole at the moment of the cavity's destruction will take you to the moment of its creation, and vice versa. Entering at the apex of its existence will put you right back to the moment you entered.

"As long as you know where and when a particular object was created, and where and when it will be destroyed, you can use it to navigate through time and space. The corncob pipe is one of those objects. We are very close to the beginning of its life, now, and I happen to know it will be destroyed in the year 2299. By creating a wormhole in it and jumping in now, we will arrive in that future.

"But that is a secondary goal. We do not need to be in that future if we cannot change the pa- ...er, present. Our main objective is to spill blood at Phillip's Corners."

"Spill blood. We don't need to kill anyone?" Doc asks.

"No, I suppose not. Although, the more of a frenzy we can stir up, the better."

"Why?"

"Governor Lucas and President Jackson will respond to the attack by sending ten thousand men to Michigan. The Michigan Militia will try to fight them off, but lose quickly resulting in only abut three hundred casualties, total. Everything will be as it was ...er will b- should be, except that the Upper Peninsula will become part of Wisconsin instead of Michigan. Wisconsin gets the iron there, thrives on the steel business, and Milwaukee becomes a much larger city. This increases immigration, and as a result a particular individual will be born-"

There is a sudden scream from outside. Not a scream, a battle cry. A Nordic battle cry.