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Episode summary:
“On May 9th 1903 the English inventor Frederick Fisk wheels his ‘aircraft’ called ‘Hermes II’ into the brilliant early summer sunshine on fields outside his York home. He is watched by a small audience of friends and family as he climbs aboard his ‘flying machine’. According to the current time line the machine was to travel – on the ground – several hundred yards and burst into flames. But to everyone’s surprise – including Fredrick’s – it soars into the air and simply disappears into the clouds! Jericho Tibbs is quickly on scene because the future time line has changed dramatically and not in the best interests of humanity.”
Episode Warnings:
Alcohol
– Smoking – Strong language – Sexual references – Mild Horror and demonic
references.
Author’s notes
about this episode:
[1]
The original Title for this episode was: ‘FREDERICK FISK’S FLYING MACHINE.’
[2]
A ‘Temporal Detectives’ original story.
[3 Illustration is an original photograph of James Ward and his 'Shooting Star' at South Beach, April 2, 1911. Courtesy of the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.
Episode details:
Concept
date: 1st March 2022
First
published: Not available
Status: COMPLETED, BUT UNPUBLISHED.
Location:
BOOK SERIES 0 – EPISODE 0.
Revisions:
4 [Last revised June 2023]
Version: Final Draft?
Published Episode No. 00
Previous episode: NONE
Next episode: NONE
Age
recommendation: 12+
Average
reading time: Approx. 45 Minutes.
Angel-in-charge: Francis
Team
Assigned: Team 74
Human
Time: 1903AD-1320AH
Mission: 4
- 766600 - 3 – 1903
Episode Preview:
“Come on Freddie old boy, let’s walk down there and see if everything is still ship-shape.” Retired Colonel George Harrington slapped Fred’s back and thrust a glass of whisky into his hand. “Get that down old boy. One for the road, or in this case, one for the clouds!” He chuckled at his own humour and Fred just smiled and sipped the welcome libation. “Everyone is gathering by the summer house, your man Kennedy [Fred’s butler] is serving up teas and whisky and young Kent has the damn fire–engine standing by in Leap Lane [a small road that ran parallel with the disused field] so, we have all points covered. I said leave it to me and it’s all been done.” The Colonel knocked his whisky back in one hit and immediately poured another and offered Fred a re-fill, which he declined. He needed a clear head today, of all days.
George raised his glass, “Here’s to success Freddie, by God you need something like this after losing Ellen last year. Something to get you back out there my old friend.” Freddie stared at his machine, watching the big horse being uncoupled from it. He knew what his late wife would have said about it, and it wouldn’t have been pleasant or what he wanted to hear! He then thought about young Frank, their only child, safely tucked away at boarding school and prayed that God would grant him [Freddie] another chance to see and speak with the boy. He had some explaining to do, no, more of a confession really. But his thoughts turned back to here and now.
As soon as the breeze dropped, he would attempt to pilot his home-made craft into the sky, well, get above three hundred feet for a minute or so and Frederick Fisk, inventor, would be written into the history books of the world! He managed a smile and slapped on his helmet, leaving his goggles up, and placed down his whisky glass. “Come on George, let’s make history!” He said softly and the pair walked through the French doors and down the steps. The small crowd gathered around the summerhouse all applauded with some shouting, “Go for it Freddie!” or “Get it done Freddie!”
They passed the young housemaid Alice carrying a tray of champagne down to the guests and she smiled broadly at Freddie who smiled back, she said softly, “Good luck darling.” watching the pair ahead of her, she stopped behind the huge stone statue of a naked Apollo, at the side of the patio steps, and took a glass and swigged it. “Yes, good bleeding luck my dear. Have I some news for you when you get back.” She smiled again and headed for the party by the summerhouse.
The first person to welcome Fred and George was Malcolm McKenzie, Fred’s assistant and engineer: the young man was a student at the local university and totally obsessed with engines. Any type of engine to be honest: he loved them all. Malcolm had grease on his face, jacket and hands, “Been giving her a final checkup Fred, she’s purring like a kitten!” Fred slapped his young friends arm and grinned, “I want her roaring like a lion!” They posed for a photograph by the flying machine which was mainly built of wood and canvas, held together by glue and wires. Fred would sit in front of the engine which was behind the pilot’s seat, it was a strange combination and later planes would inevitably have the pilot behind the engine and enclosed in a cockpit. But for now, Fred sat totally exposed, relying on his thick jacket and trousers for protection against the elements.
The photographer was doing great business taking pictures of the crowd members with the plane and Fredrick; he [the happy photographer] was charging ten shillings a photograph! [That was good money for these days] and everyone wanted their ‘moment in history’ captured. Finally, Fred and Malcolm took their leave of the crowd and walked slowly towards where ‘Hermes II’ stood and Fred carefully eased himself into the small wooden seat and checked his instruments, which were all contained on a small A4 sized wooden board. Malcolm checked the engine – again – and then the wire struts that held the dam thing together. He twanged them like a reluctant harpist checking their instrument and nodded to himself, satisfied everything was ready for the test flight. He walked back to the quiet Fredrick and nodded, “She’s ready Freddie.” He wiped his face – adding more grease – and managed a nervous smile with the two men gripping hands. Fred took a big deep breath and nodded again. “Let’s get this done Malcolm.” Was all he said and sat back as Malcolm turned the propeller several times as Freddie pulled on the starting cable. The engine suddenly exploded into life and Freddie immediately felt the air pushing against his back and wondered if the damn thing should be in front! But those thoughts were for later, maybe he would alter the design on ‘Hermes III’ to take account of that.
Malcolm jumped away and gave the thumbs up. Freddie stared up into the sky and crossed himself. He shouted, “Death or glory!” and released the brakes and the machine began to move forward, the whole structure trembling under the strain of the engine. The machine bounced over the carefully cut grass and headed down the field. One thought jumped into Fred’s elated mind, he had forget to check the fucking wind speeds! Cursing his careless stupidity he knew he should stop and get that vital information, but he didn’t. ‘Hermes II’ was approaching lift off speed and Fred knew he couldn’t stop or turn back now. Gripping the wheel, he stared ahead and slowly pushed the wheel carefully down and the wings groaned and creaked as lift off speed was reached, and the fragile little craft bounced and rattled over the grass. Then she lifted, with Fred struggling to keep hold of the wheel, or even stay in his seat [the thought of some kind of harness flashed through his mind] and suddenly he found that he and his flying machine was actually in the air with the ground dropping rapidly away from under them.
Fred couldn’t hear the cheering and clapping from the small crowd below or see the unusual sight of the old Colonel hugging a very surprised young Malcolm! He stared about himself in utter wonder as the machine cleared the farmland below and appeared over the village, where several people simply stood and watched with their mouths open. That’s when Fred realised he had a serious problem, no matter how hard he pulled at the wheel, he couldn’t stop the dam thing from climbing. He soared well above the three hundred feet that ‘Hermes II’ was designed for and cussing loudly; the pair disappeared into a thick dark cloud.
Malcolm and the colonel both lowered their binoculars and stared at each other for almost a minute in absolute silence. Finally Malcolm managed to speak, he said softly, “Where the fuck has he gone?” The colonel shook his head and rubbed his face with a hankie, blowing his nose. “He just flew into that damn big rain cloud and never came out.” They both stared at each other again and then returned to watching the sky. After about an hour they gave up and informed the local police that Fredrick Fisk and his incredible flying machine was missing.
The press descended upon Midwinter House in droves. Their headlines announced the incredible flight and the tragic – and frankly mysterious – disappearance of the ‘Genius’ inventor. That evening Midwinter House was burgled, and Freddie’s study ransacked with his old safe broken open and all his papers and drawings taken. But worse than that, someone torched the stables where – under its canvas covers – the half built ‘Hermes III’ lay. The place burnt to the ground before the local volunteer fire service appeared. The newspapers blamed ‘German spies and saboteurs’ for these events and screamed for the Government to do something. [There were real tensions between Germany, the British Empire and Europe generally at the time.]
But worse was to come, Freddie’s flight was declared ‘null & void’ since there were no ‘official’ observers of the flight and he [and his machine] wasn’t around to interview or investigate. Fredrick Fisk’s place in history never – apparently – happened. In spring 1908, young Frank Fisk, Freddie’s only son, now eighteen, claimed his ‘late’ fathers estate by having the inventor Fredrick Fisk declared as dead. It was reported in a couple of newspapers, but the public wasn’t really interested. The Wright brothers had claimed the first ‘powered flight’ back in December 1903 and airplanes were now common and only attracted real attention when something special happened: like when, In July 1909, Louis Charles Joseph Blériot landed in England having flown from France. But history had forgotten Fredrick Fisk and his flying machine until Freddie landed his craft on the new ‘motorway’ that crossed North Yorkshire, on a sunny afternoon on June 7th, 1962. Jericho and Team 74 were quickly sent to investigate. They arrived in time to see Fredrick being bundled into a police car, protesting his innocence, whilst his plane was lifted by several burly policeman and loaded onto the back of a coal lorry – it was all the police could get at such short notice - they had traffic backed up for nearly a mile behind the damn thing.
Jericho rubbed his face and grunted, “Come on, I think it’s time to jump back to the start of all this and I know a man who can help.” They headed back to their van, sign marked “St. John’s Church Volunteers’ and watched Fredrick driven away. Owen leaned on the front seats and asked Jericho what the plan was.
Jericho pulled out his mirror and managed a smile, “Fredrick Fisk was a failure with most of his inventions, well, to be frank, nearly all of them. He should have died in May 1903 when his bleeding experimental plane burst into flames, having never even flown a foot above the ground. But suddenly, that changes completely, and he disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen or heard of again, until today. Some fifty-nine years later he tries to land, except where his landing field was, is now a council housing estate. So, he comes down on the motorway and is promptly arrested. He had slipped through a time-portal and was thrown nearly sixty years into the future. For him, just minutes have passed since taking off at Midwinter House. But the timeline is already changing and for some reason, the indications are that something happened back in 1903, apart from Fredrick not dying. Either way, by being killed or vanishing, he was no longer relevant in the human timeline. Yet it’s still changing and it’s not that he re-appears in 1962. The authorities treat him as a nut and simply don’t believe him. There is no surviving family to identify or claim him and so he’s banged up in an asylum. That also means, he doesn’t change the timeline – well, not too much – from 1962 onwards. So, as I say, it’s back to 1903 and sort this mess out.”
End of preview.
"FREDRICK FISK'S FLYING MACHINE" CONTINUES IN 'TEMPORAL DETECTIVES' BOOK SERIES 0 [EPISODE 0.]
"ALEXANDRA AND FREDRICK." Remember! The "ALEXANDRA" series is rated 18+ Adults ONLY.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
“All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical figures, are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.”
CAUTION:
“SOME OF THESE EPISODES CONTAIN VERY STRONG LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, HORROR AND SEXUAL REFERENCES. Some are RECOMMENDED suitable for persons aged 15+ years only.”
THE AUTHOR.
Copyright © 2011-2025 0Stephen Williams. No reproduction of any part without permission.