Chapter 10-The Town

Up ahead, there was an upturn in the dust, caused by the busy traffic of horse buggies and foot traffic. Through the smog of dust, I could see several brick and wooden buildings, which I guessed is the main attraction of our whole mission: the town. A farmer passed by us a moment later, and nervously, we nodded our heads and said hello in our best southern accents. My heart raced, and I began to sweat. Thoughts like us blowing our cover suddenly rushed through my head, but I tried to push them away as best I could. We entered the main street of the town, acting casual, yet astonished at the early American style structures all around us. There wasn't a single building that was more than one story high, a strange concept for me. Technology and culture has changed so much in the past 250 years or so. Town folks met us with pleasant greetings and welcomes, as they had never seen us before. We went to the police station to ask questions about the town, and we would say that we were travelers from up farther north settling in to land nearby. As we walked to the small brick building, the American Flag, in all its glory, proudly flew on a towering pole above the police department. Although people in the south such as the police, who primarily existed to keep slavery in-check, believed in such horrors, seeing that American flag sent chills down my spine, a feeling I had never felt before. I know that after its dark past through the 20th century, it was the greatest nation on earth. Someone once told me that that chill down my spine as I saw the flag was a feeling of patriotism, a pride and love for one's country. I was never a fan of the Allied States' socialistic principles, but neither had I ever formed a true political opinion. I was afraid to learn about politics and speak out in a country where freedom of speech was not a thing. Learning about the USA, it seemed like a country worth fighting for, despite the differences and flaws within.

When we talked to the police and some other people, we headed back home to finish setting up the place and file a first-day report. Because water ran out fast, we were told to place a water line into the nearby spring so that we would have circulating and running water, so we spent the next two hours setting that up. Afterwards, we filed our report. Once that was submitted, an incoming call notification came up on the main screen in the work room. Dan was requesting to speak to us. "Hello, how was your first day?" he said eagerly, "It was great!" Susan said, "There were so many nice people." "That's excellent! Thank you for doing your report correctly; most people have a hard time with doing them the right way," Dan said. "The main reason why I am calling you is a major problem that has arisen," he said gravely. Oh dear, what could it be now? "As you know, many people are against our cause, and they will do anything they can to stop us from changing time. I hate that this has happened to you, especially so early on. I'm not sure if you've heard of them, but the organization called the World Preservation Association, or the WPA, has allegedly received access to all of our files, mission dates, and locations. Rumor has it that they have time travelling capabilities as well. If my theory from this data is correct, that means that there could potentially be agents like you, but not like you out to stop you from completing your mission. What I'm trying to say is be careful. Don't trust anyone because they could be a WPA agent. If you see any suspicious activity, immediately report it. Best of luck to you." Without getting the chance to acknowledge him, he left the video chat. Rob, Susan, and I looked at each other in great fear. I think our jobs just got a whole lot harder…