Free The Time Sphere by A.E. Albert

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    Did Jeanie really think he whined too much?  Ya, well, he had a reason to didn’t he?  He didn’t ask for the life had.  He didn’t ask to be dumped by his parents, who apparently were responsible for the destruction of mankind!  The more he thought about it, he didn’t think Jeanie had the right to say anything to him.  
    Billy stopped at this internal remark.  Wait, she was here because of him.  In fact, she was in as much danger as he was.  Man, he hoped Dickens could get them out of this mess.
    As he walked back to the group, his thoughts wandered to the fact that when Jeanie was really getting angry with him, she called him Townsend.  For some unknown reason, this made him smile.
    As Billy approached Jeanie and Dickens, Jeanie began to giggle, and a broad smile spread over Dickens face.  Billy looked down at himself.  He wore a brown garment made of a coarse woolen material.  The shoulders came together with metal pins, and it barely reached his knees.
    “I still think I look like an idiot,” said Billy, gazing morosely down at his attire.
    Dickens gave a short belly laugh.  “Maybe in your time, but here you’ll fit right in,” he chuckled, as he gave Billy a slap on the shoulder.
    “Ohhh, I love my outfit,” exclaimed Jeanie, as she twirled around the beach .
    Billy turned to look and privately agreed with her.  Her dress was similar to his but was made out of a soft white material.  The shoulders were also clasped with pins, but the rest flowed gracefully to the ground.
    Dickens handed Jeanie a long rectangular shaped garment.  “This is a himation.  You drape it around your shoulders.  Be sure to cover your hair, my dear.  We don’t want to stand out, and you certainly do with that glorious titian hair of yours.” Jeanie blushed prettily at Dickens compliment.
    Dickens garb more closely resembled Jeanie’s robe, except the sides flowed freely down to his feet, while Jeanie’s was cinched at the waist with a rope type belt.
    As the trio continued to walk down the beach toward the island, Billy noticed that the white and brown dog was following them.  Well, actually, he was following Jeanie.  This irritated Billy because he didn’t want anybody to notice them due to the continual mewling it emitted.  Jeanie, however, wasn’t helping matters by picking up sticks and playing with the little animal.  Billy just continued walking, determined to ignore the dumb dog.
    The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, and Billy began to notice several people milling about.  Everyone was dressed as he was, but most were carrying baskets or large clay pots.  Some were even taking their boats out into the water for their daily haul of fish.
    As Billy continued to gaze in wonder around him, he noticed that Dickens and Jeanie came to a stop. When they had come upon the water’s edge, Dickens approached and spoke to a man untying a wooden raft from a small dock.  He turned to Billy and Jeanie and motioned for them to step onto the raft.  To Billy’s chagrin, the flea bag followed them aboard.  Dickens discreetly gave something to the driver, and they began to sail across the water to the island beyond.
    “Where are we going,” whispered Jeanie.
    “The island of Ortygia,” returned Dickens, who at once motioned for them to be quiet.
    All three continued their trip in silence.  It was not long before they were once again upon a beach.  This time Billy could see numerous white buildings crammed tog ether on the hills above them.
    Dickens said a few words to the man with the boat and then turned to join them.  He immediately pinned a small metal square to the inside of their robes.
    “What’s this for?” asked Jeanie, examining the small device.
    “A language decoder.   Very common where I come from and very useful here.”  Dickens laughed at the amazed expressions on the children’s faces.  “Well, my dears, if we can build a time machine, then I dare say,