The Physics Chronicles: Book 1 Part 1

He watched as they hoisted his crates onto the ship. The Titanic sat moored in the harbor as they loaded cargo onto it and people climbed aboard, eager to start the journey on the world’s largest, safest ship. It was hard to imagine a big hulking thing like this could even float, let alone sail across the ocean. He shaded his eyes as he watched them raise his crates high into the air, moving them up towards the side of the ship. He had some important things in those and he wanted to make sure they got aboard safely. They pulled them higher and higher, the men on the pulley grunting with the effort of hauling them up. He didn’t notice at first but he was holding his breath as he watched, only letting it out as the crates went over the side of the ship and the men began to lower them down. Satisfied that they were now safe he was off to board the ship himself.

He turned to one of the men around the cargo that was still to be loaded onto the ship “Excuse me sir, where will they be storing all of the cargo on the voyage?”

The man gave him a mean looking frown, but then relented. “The seventh deck, but you won’t be able to find what you’re looking for anyways— too much stuff— impossible to just pick one thing out.”

“It’s fine I’m sure, I just might need something from my belongings and wanted to know just in case.” He gave the man a little smile and then was off towards the ramp leading onto the ship. It was a lovely day, not that others weren’t lovely as well but this was the first time that he had a moment to appreciate it. The wind blew through his hair and he could smell the salt in the air, it had been a while since he had been near the sea and it was nice to see, and smell, it again. If only his previous days had been this nice. He had just recently escaped his captors, and even before then most of his life had been filled with adventure and peril. The adventure was fun and all, but the peril was not a very pleasant thing, especially because he had been in a lot of it lately. He got to the ramp to board the ship and handed the man his ticket, the man checked it, ripped it and then gestured him aboard. No going back now.

The things chasing after him would find him no matter where he went, somehow they always did. He just hoped that this journey would give him some reprise from the chase and allow him to get some rest. He had just barely lost them before. A shiver ran up his spine at the thought, even with the warm sun on his skin. Their pale skin and big round black eyes. He just hoped their tracking methods wouldn’t come across him until he was far away and on a different continent. It was time to leave Europe and head for America, there must be people who could help him there. He had no enemies there, but many here in Europe. He stepped off the plank onto the hard metal of the ship, time to find his room and settle in for the journey ahead.

 

It was the second night of the journey and so far everything had been going smoothly. He spent most of his time in his room, only coming out to eat, and even than he took his meals back to his cabin. No need to let anyone, or anything for that matter, notice him. Tonight he had decided to eat in the dining room, picking a table that was out of sight of course, and now he was on his way back to his room. He was walking along the deck when he heard something that sounded like a scuffle coming from the deck below him, he went over to the railing and saw two men fighting— fighting very aptly at that. He was wondering if he should go down and help, but he soon realized that the two men were sparing. It was quite a sight, both men clearly very adept fighters, he decided to go down to get a better look.

 He approached quietly so as not to disturb them. As he got closer he could make out the two of them. One of them was an older man, tall, his hair starting to turn gray, though he was still fighting just as well as the younger man —a black man— who was shorter, though built like a tank. They were both dressed in what he guessed were some sort of sparing outfits, very loose fitting clothing that allowed them to move freely, which they were taking full advantage of. The older man lashed out with a palm strike to the younger man’s chest but the younger man easily parried it and struck back with a kick to the older man’s leg which brought him down on one knee. He then went for the finishing blow, a quick strike to the older man’s face, but before he could land it the older man rolled out of the way and was back up on two feet lightning quick. They circled each other before suddenly stopping and both took a bow towards the other.

“Bloody good job there my friend, you’re learning fairly quickly.” The older man said as he shook the younger man’s hand and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“Well I do have a great teacher.” The younger man said with a smile.

He then decided to reveal himself, these two men looked like they would make good friends with the predicament he was in.

 “That was quite a good show gentlemen, you’re fighting skills are very impressive.” He said clapping as he walked forward “It’s not often you see two such skilled fighters going at it. But where are my manners? My name is Albert.” he said, offering his hand to them.

The younger man was quick to take it and shook his hand, his grip like iron. “Well I’m glad you were entertained, my names Hawk, Hawk Jones, nice to meet you Albert.” They shook hands and then Albert moved to the older man.

 “And you are?”

“My name is Sherlock Mr. Einstein, and if you don’t mind me asking, what brings you onto the Titanic?” the older man said as they shook hands.

Albert was about to answer when he realized that the man had used his last name, and he hadn’t given it. “Wait a second, how did you kn…” and the answer hit him before the words left his mouth. This was the famous Sherlock Holmes. “… Ah, I see.” He smiled. “Well Mr. Holmes, I could ask you the same question.” he finally said after standing there for a moment.

“So you are as brilliant as they say, though I guess my reputation does precede me. As for my presence, I’m here because of young Hawk.  I am teaching him Bartitsu, in exchange he has bought me the ticket that got me aboard this vessel.  I’ve always wanted to go to New York, you see, and now that I’m retired I thought it was a good time to do so. And before you ask Watson stayed behind, he thought it was pertinent that he stayed and helped Scotland Yard, lord knows they need the help.” He laughed.

Then with a sudden realization Einstein was struck with fear. If Sherlock Holmes could recognize him so easily then shrilly others could as well.

Holmes could see the fear instantly.

 “I say my good fellow, whatever seems to be the matter? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you” he began to look around for any sign of anyone, or anything, watching them, certainly they had eyes on him now. If he couldn’t hide from one human then he couldn’t hide from them, no matter what distance he put between them. “Um, would you two mind if we took this back to my cabin? I’m afraid the longer I stay out in the open the more I risk being found.”

“Found by whom?” Holmes asked.

“Come, I’ll explain everything in my cabin.” Albert said as he started to walk back to his room. The other two gave each other a quick look and then quickly followed behind him.

 

Albert shut the door behind them as Holmes and Hawk entered, locking it tightly.

 “So, what’s with all the secrecy and hiding and all that?” Hawk asked as he came and took a seat on the bed.

“Yes, please, do tell us, what is going on?” Holmes added.

Albert paced across the small room for a moment. He wanted to tell them, but there was little chance that they would believe him even if he did. He thought for a moment, he didn’t have anything to lose, and maybe they’d help him. If he could get their help he knew that he would have an even better chance at defeating his pursuers, not just continuously fleeing from them. Maybe there was still a shot. He took a look at them both and decided to tell them. “Ok, so I’m sure you’ve already guessed by now that I’m being chased.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve gathered that, but there’s nothing to be afraid my friend, especially with Hawk and I around, why do we not simply take the fight to whomever it is and show them what for?” Holmes said and Hawk nodded in agreement.

“Well it’s not really that simple. You two would be more than a match for any human, or any number of humans for that matter, but what is after me is not of this world.” He paused to let that sink in, and seeing as neither one of them seem to think he was crazy yet he continued. “They’re some creatures from outer space. I don’t know where they’ve come from, all I know is that they’re after me, and the fate of the world as we know it rests on me not being captured by them. I know this because I’ve…extracted information from one of them, and somehow they know all that there is to know about our history and that we’re on the verge of a great turning point. Some of my ideas will help tip the scales in the direction of good, and they would rather that didn’t happen.”

Sherlock stopped him “Please, why don’t you just start from the beginning of your story, the very beginning, maybe then it will all make more sense to us.”

“Yeah, just tell us the whole story so we know what you’re talking about, I’m a little lost right now.” Hawk added.

Albert took another deep breath “Ok, here it goes…..” and he began to tell them his tale.

 

“… and that’s what’s brought me here.” Albert finally finished, he looked from one man to the other, waiting for their reactions. They both looked at each other and then turned back to him.

 “Well, that’s quite the story, I have to say, if you weren’t you I would not have believed it.” Said Sherlock as he sucked on his pipe and blew smoke rings. He had produced the pipe, seemingly out of nowhere during Albert’s story.

“Yeah, what he said.” said Hawk, “So you can really, what was it, absorbed information from other people just by touching them?” Hawk asked, still not able to believe that things like that were possible. He had seen some crazy stuff in his life, heck, he had seen a man punch through a brick wall, but nothing so fantastic as Albert had told them. Sherlock voiced what he was thinking

 “I have to say, I have seen some strange and amazing things in my life but nothing quite as incredible as you’ve described.”

“Yeah, but that absorbing knowledge stuff, you can do that?” Hawk asked again, reiterating his original question.

“Yes, I can, ever since they first took me captive I’ve been able to do it. I don’t know what they did to me but it’s a pretty useful skill.That’s why I know so much, I’ve absorbed a lot of it from other people, I’ve also noticed that I retain knowledge a lot better than the average human.” Albert told him.

“So, did you absorb everything we know when you touched us?” Hawked asked, looking a little nervous about what the answer may be.

Albert smiled.

“No, I’ve learned to control it, and besides, even if I wanted to know everything about you I wouldn’t be able to do that unless you let me in, at least not without causing you permanent brain damage. I can only learn small things about a person without their knowledge of what I’m doing.  I’ve also learned to be selective in what I get out a person’s mind.”

“Oh, ok.” Hawk said with relief.

 “Would you like to see how it works?” Albert asked him, “I know learning all you know about martial arts would come in handy with the predicament I’m in. What do you say?”

Hawk thought about it for a moment “Sure, I don’t see too much harm in that, let’s see how this works.” Hawk stuck out his hand for Albert to take.

 “Ok, just remember not to fight it.” He said as he took his hand and began the process.

Albert closed his eyes and relaxed, taking a deep breath, and then all of a sudden he tensed up and squeezed Hawks hand tightly. After a moment he let go and slumped onto the floor, Sherlock and Hawk moved to help him up but then Hawk fell down as well.

“Wow, talk about a head rush.” Hawk said as he shook his head and slowly stood back up.

 “You’re telling me.” Albert added, taking a moment to settle himself, then he looked over at Hawk. “Wow, I know kung-fu.”

“Well not kung-fu, just Bok Fu, Wing Chung, Judo, Ninjutsu, Savate, Muso Shiden-yu, and what little Bartitsu I’ve learned from Sherlock.”

“Still, that’s impressive.” Albert told him as he took it all in.

“But what’s E=MC2?” Hawk asked, wondering how he knew that.

“Oh, that’s the formula I came up with that will help change the world, that’s basically why their after me.” Albert told him.

“Oh, well why do I know it now?”

“Sometimes small things from my mind jump over to the other persons, nothing to worry about really. It’s inconsequential.”

“Ok, as long as I don’t have to worry about it.”

“Well gentlemen, now that that’s all settled and done, what are we to do about these men from space. If Einstein is correct then they surely are tracking him and will be here soon, what are we to do?” Sherlock interrupted, wondering exactly what the plan was.

Albert thought for a moment “Well, I think we might be able to take them now. We might even be able to beat them.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yeah man, are you for real, do you really think so?”

“I do, now we just have to prepare and get ready, it’s time to find my crates before they get here.”

“Crates? You never mentioned crates. What do they have to do with anything?”

“They have some of my things in them that will be helpful, so, let’s find them. We have the beginnings of a plan, gentlemen!” They then left to search the cargo hold for Albert’s crates.

 

It was the night of April 14, a dark moonless night.  The helmsman had his eye on the ocean, scanning it for anything that the ship might hit, waiting for any calls from the crow’s nest to adjust course. He scanned the horizon, nothing out of the ordinary. When suddenly a bright object shot across the sky, it looked like a shooting star, accept it was probably only 500 yards away from the ship. His jaw dropped and he stared at the glowing flying metal saucer. It stopped and hung in the air for a few minutes before moving again and then disappearing from his view. He looked out the window and searched the sky looking for it but there was no trace of what he had just seen. He began to think he was crazy. He went back to his looking out over the deep black ocean only to see a big white chunk sticking out of the inky black. He quickly turned starboard trying to avoid it but it was too late. He heard the scrapping and wrenching of metal. He looked grimly over the horizon as he realized what had just happened. Word would soon spread that the titanic was sinking.

 

Hawk saw what he was looking for. Tonight was the night. He watched as the big flying saucer whisked across the sky, this confirming everything, what Einstein had said was indeed true. After the saucer had gone out of sight he hurried back to Sherlock and Einstein who were sitting with the crates that they had found the day before after a long search of the cargo hold. He ran across the deck, sticking to the shadows so as not to be noticed, his black shōzoku helping him blend in, his katana strapped to his back; he was ready for anything like Einstein had told him to be. He quickly made his way to the cargo hold.

“They’re here, I saw them. Looks like you were right about how good they are at tracking.” They both stood up, Sherlock exhaling smoke as he tapped the contents of his pipe out and placing it back into his jacket.

“Then we don’t have much time.” Even as Albert said it he saw the air start to shimmer and pop “Their starting to lock onto us. Quick, both of you grab onto the crates.” Both Holmes and Hawk quickly did as they were told, the air beginning to shimmer all around them. Albert quickly gave a series of knocks on one of the crates and then hopped up onto the other; he quickly pried a loose board away and reached his hand inside, trying to reach something. Then, there was a bright flash and they were gone, the only trace of them being a slight crackling in the air as they were teleported onto the alien ship.

 

All Sherlock could think of was, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’. Sure, he didn’t think Einstein was lying but there was probably some perfectly reasonable explanation to his story. The knowledge absorption he had to admit had no practical explanation, but the rest had to have something logical behind it. He wasn’t so sure anymore, after the bright flash he was now standing aboard the alien ship and he believed everything that Einstein had said. The room they were in was made out of some metallic substance and he could see these big bug eyed creatures gathering around them. There were about twenty of them and he didn’t think that they could take them all, even with their combined skills, plus they had some type of staff weapon that had electricity coming out of the end. They were shorter than your average human but they still looked formidable, with big thick limbs, and some looking like they had fangs as well (he certainly had no inclination of getting bitten).

Then Einstein’s words brought him back to the present and snapped him out of his stupor. “Watch out for the staffs, they’ll stun you.”

He was still reaching into the crate, then all of a sudden he hopped off “Got it.” he said and some weird sound could be heard coming from the box now. Then he gave another knock to the other box and Holmes was not prepared for what happened next. All of a sudden there was a roar and a huge brown bear burst out of the crate, splinters flying everywhere.

 ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’

Even HHHfdggdsfgsdfgdsgfsgdfgdfshhh          HFDGHFDGawk who had his katana drawn and was ready for battle was dumfounded when the bear burst out of the crate. The bear then charged into the creatures. The creatures scattered, taking cover behind various objects, some of the braver ones charged forward ready for battle. Einstein, Sherlock, and Hawk quickly centered themselves, ready for battle.

 

Hawk quickly leaped forward at one of the creatures with one of the electric staffs and to a swipe at him with his sword. The alien dodged the attack and came at him with the staff. Hawk parried it away, the end of the staff crackling with electricity, just inches away from his head. He then moved forward, the staff pinned down with his sword and gave the creature a punch to the face which caught him off guard and sent him sprawling.

Meanwhile Sherlock had been engaged by two of the other aliens and was waiting for one to make a move. All of a sudden one leapt at him— bad move.

Sherlock gave him a swift kick that knocked him out of the way which allowed Sherlock to charge his buddy, striking out with his fist, the alien brought up his arm and blocked the punch but Sherlock already had his knee coming which crashed into the alien’s stomach who then doubled over and fell to one knee. Sherlock turned just in time to take the other alien’s punches right on the chin. He stepped back and rubbed at where the alien had hit him. “Good shot old boy.”

He then came at the alien again with a swift punch which the alien pushed out of the way but wasn’t prepared for the head-butt that followed it. As the aliens fell to the ground Sherlock swept his feet out from under him which sent him down even harder, he then gave him one last palm strike to the chest which put him out of commission. He then turned to the other one who was just now getting back up.

Albert was having a jolly old time. As he fought it was like his body knew exactly what to do even before he thought of it. He was giving ground as the alien came at him, blocked at kick with a cross block and then answered with a kick of his own which the alien saw coming and was able to dodge.

“Wow, I’d never thought that I’d know how to fight as well as this.” he said as he lashed out at the alien again.

“Yeah, well you only get the best from me.” Answered Hawk as he cut the aliens staff in half and then kicked him square in the chest.

“Even so, I don’t think we can take on this many at a time for much longer, it looks like they’re regrouping.” Sherlock chimed in, as he fought off the aliens that were attacking him.

 “Don’t worry, that should be taken care of right about now.” said Albert, and as if on cue a loud thump came from the other box behind them. Then a louder one, and then all of a sudden a big gray fist came bursting out of the crate. The crate was then quickly peeled away from the inside and a big gray monster of a man stepped out.

 “Alright, who’s ass do I have to kick now?” it said scanning the room, “These guys again huh? What do you keep getting us into Al?” and then he leapt across the room to join the bear, which was mauling a few aliens. With a swipe of his hand he sent three of them flying and crashing against the wall, then he picked up a few more and threw them over with the rest.

“What the hell is that thing?” asked Hawk as he stood there with Sherlock and Einstein, the trio having dispatched the aliens that were attacking them, now watching the big man make quick work of the rest of the aliens.

“That my friends, is Frank.” Albert answered.

It took a moment for even Sherlock to get what he was saying.

 “Are you telling me that that is the famous Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Yes, that is what I’m telling you, but he prefers Frank. And don’t mention monster, he doesn’t like that at all.”

“Good to know.” They both said and watched as Frank took out the remaining aliens, joining the rest of the group afterwards, Bear doing the same.

“So, I take one little nap and everything goes to hell, what would you do without me Al?” Frank said.

“Hang on there, I think we could have taken care of the situation just fine, my new friends have more skill than you give them credit for. Let me introduce you, this is Sherlock Holmes, detective extraordinaire, and this is Hawk Jones, master martial artist.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you my dear boy.”

“Yeah, same here, and boy am I glad that you’re on our side.”

“Nice to meet you fellas, I’m Frank as Al’s already told you, and this here is Bear.”

In response, the bear gave a nod which surprised Sherlock.

“Einstein, does this bear understand English?”

“Yes he does, he’s extremely intelligent for a bear.” He walked over and started to pet Bear, scratching him behind the ear “Though he did have some help from me when I taught him English with my powers, not that he really needed it, he was already really smart, and he’s saved me more than once.”

Bear nodded again.

“And how, might I ask, did you come upon Frank? I thought he had been burned.”

“He had been, mostly. When I found him he was in pretty bad shaped, but I patched him up and now he’s good as new.”

“Yeah, and now I’m stuck with this guy for the rest of my life, he’s the only one who knows how to fix me up if I break.”

“You keep very interesting company Mr. Einstein, very interesting in deed.”

“Well he’s probably about to get a few more interesting characters to join this crazy mission, come take a look at this.” Hawk said from the next room, he was taking a look to see if any more aliens were coming their way but was now staring at something. The rest of the group came to look at what he was gawking at.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Sherlock said, his mouth dropping to the floor.

 ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’

“You said it pal.” Frank added.

 What they were staring at were three people frozen in stasis. There were two men and a woman in front of them. One was dressed in a cowboy hat, long black pants and a coat to match with two bandoliers around his waist, full to the brim with bullets. The other man was half naked, his chest bear, wearing long animal skin pants, with what looked to be war paint on his face. The woman was dressed in long flowing robes covered in heavy armor, a sword strapped to her waist. A cowboy from the American wild west, a Native American warrior, and an ancient Japanese samurai woman.

 “Amazing, they must have been abducting people all throughout time.” Albert finally said and went over to the controls of the stasis chambers. “We have to free them. They’ve probably been in here for years, decades maybe. Centuries for the samurai women there! And just think of what they’re capable of.”

“Uh, are you sure it’s a good idea to be messing with those controls? You don’t know what they do.” Hawk said

“You’re right.” Albert hopped down and walked over to one of the aliens who looked mostly alive. He reached down and touched him, tensing up and then falling back onto the floor. He quickly got up and went back to the controls. “But now I do.”

He studied the controls for a second, searching his new knowledge for what to do and began pressing buttons. “Now let’s get these people out of here and beat these things.”