Free Shift (ChronoShift Trilogy) by Zack Mason

maybe just plain odd, to a 1970's man.
    “Can I help you, sir?”  Harrington was still trying to assess Mark as a person.
    “I would like to purchase some shares in a company, please.”
    “Have you ever traded with me before?”
    “No, sorry.  Sure haven’t.”
    “Well, it’s pretty simple actually.  We’ll just set up an account for you.  Do you know the stock symbol of the company you want to purchase?”
    “Uh, no.”
    “What company do you wish to buy shares in?”
    “Wal-Mart.”
    “Is that a new company?  Never heard of it.”
    “Oh, you will.”  He couldn’t resist that.
    The stock broker raised an eyebrow, eyeing Mark even more quizzically.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but those are some odd clothes you’ve got on.”
    “I’m a bit eccentric.  Please excuse the attire.”  Mark was getting a little quicker with the off-the-cuff lies and hasty explanations, but it’d be better if he were prescient enough not to need them.
    “Well, anyway, I’ll look up the symbol for you.  I charge a 5% commission.  How many shares did you want?”
    “About $60.00 worth.”
    He pulled three $20 bills from his pocket and handed them to Harrington.  Harrington took them and then stared at the bills.
    “Is this some kind of joke?” he said.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?  Did somebody put you up to this?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “These bills.  They aren’t real, that’s for sure, but it’s the best job of counterfeiting I’ve ever seen, except for the fact that some idiot made Jackson too big and printed him off-center.  Probably wouldn’t have spotted it if it weren’t for that.”
    Mark mentally slapped himself on the forehead.  Of course, the $20 bills he’d gotten out of the ATM in 2010 would look different than currency in 1970.
    “Uh, yeah.  Tom put me up to it, but you caught me.”  Hastily, he snatched the bills from the broker and rushed out of the office.  Tom put me up to it?   Well, he figured the guy must know somebody named Tom.  Mark ran back to the courthouse and ducked into an external stairwell at its back, where he shifted forward to 2010.
    It took some effort, but after visiting a number of different shops, he was able to exchange the twenties for some beat-up $1 bills.  The style of those had not changed over those forty years as the bigger bills had.  If the broker were suspicious and examined them closely enough, he’d probably notice the $1 bills had been printed in years after 1970.  That is... if he were suspicious.  Mark would shift to one month prior to his first meeting with Harrington to avoid suspicion.
    He spent another $10 on food and an outfit from Goodwill which would fit in better with the styles of the 1970's.
    This time, Harrington didn’t bat an eye.  Mark gave the broker only $40 this time, holding the last $10 for other unexpected expenses.  Harrington took his information, and promised Mark the Wal-Mart shares would arrive in a couple of weeks if he wanted the physical copies.  Mark did.
    He shifted forward two weeks into the future and collected his shares from Harrington.  Then, he walked across the street to Brand Bank, a bank he knew would still be around for decades to come.  He opened a safe deposit box and left the shares inside.
    Next, he opened a savings account, deposited his $10.00 with the teller, and then went outside.  He slipped behind the building, away from the eyes of traffic, and shifted forward to September of 2011, his original present time.
    Jumping around through the years could easily become disorienting.  He needed an anchor, an unchanging reference point from which he could measure everything else.  This time, right now, September of 2011, was his actual present.  As he explored the labyrinth of time, he would need to come back here every now and then and just live his normal life.  He would call this his home time.
     

 
     
    September 17 th , 2011 –