ENDANGERED SPECIES
By Michael A. Kechula
Liz shuddered, as Dr. Zangara approached with a huge syringe filled with murky yellow fluid. Though she agreed to participate in an experiment, she didn’t know it meant getting a ten inch needle rammed into her flesh.
“Do you really have to stick me with that awful looking thing?” she asked.
“It’s a necessary step so you can travel backward in time. However, the needle to go forward in time is much smaller. Do you prefer to travel into the future?”
“No. I want to go back five years and change things so I can marry the guy I threw away.”
“Then you must get this injection, and lay down on the rotating table.”
“But I thought you said you had a time machine.”
“The needle and table will have to do until the time machine I’m building is finished. Which will take ten more years. Do you want to wait that long to resolve your problems from the past?
“No.”
“Then let’s proceed. My time is very valuable.”
“Okay,” she said.
She screamed when he jammed the needle in her forehead. “You said it wouldn’t hurt.”
“It shouldn’t have. When I tested it on a dozen lab mice, none of them complained. Okay, I’m going to start the countdown from ten. When I reach one, my assistants will throw a switch that will start the rotating table. While it’s spinning, you may have the sensation that you'll fly off. It's only an illusion. The straps will hold you very securely. Okay, I’m starting the countdown now. Ten…nine…eight…”
Closing her eyes, she thought of what she’d do when she was transported five years into the past. She couldn’t wait to find herself sitting in a fancy restaurant with Harry, at the point where he offered her an engagement ring. This time when he showed her the ring, she’d scream, “YES!” and throw herself into his arms. Then two minutes later she'd be transported back to Zangara’s lab.
“…three…two…one.”
The table began to rotate. In no time, it was spinning at ten revolutions per second.
Suddenly, Zangara heard a loud pop.
“Oh hell!” he said. “She disappeared.”
“That makes twenty-three that have disappeared so far this month,” said his assistant. “Perhaps we should terminate the experiment before the authorities find out.”
“Never!” Zangara shouted. “I intend to win a Nobel Prize. Bring in the next woman.”
Meanwhile, Liz returned to the present. Instead of showing up on the rotating table, as Zangara had promised, she ended up inside a cage at the city zoo. She no longer knew her name was Liz. And she didn’t even stir when a male gorilla within the cage approached and stroked her furry body.
That evening, a courier delivered an envelope to Zangara. Inside was a check and a note of thanks for providing the zoo with yet another fine example of an endangered species. The note said, “We really appreciate your latest addition to our gorilla collection. At the rate you are supplying us, we’ll soon have the largest and finest collection of female gorillas in the world.”
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Michael A. Kechula is a retired tech writer. His stories have been published by 128 magazines and 35 anthologies in 6 countries. He’s won first place in 10 contests and placed in 7 others. He’s authored three books of flash fiction, micro-fiction, and short stories: A Full Deck of Zombies--61 Speculative Fiction Tales, The Area 51 Option and 70 More Speculative Fiction Tales, and I Never Kissed Judy Garland and Other Tales of Romance. eBook versions available at www.BooksForABuck.com and www.fictionwise.com Paperbacks available at www.amazon.com.
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