All was quiet outside, the middle of the night. The moon reflecting off the nearby lake, water rippling slowly in the cool wind.  Beside the lake was a small hill. A small, white building sat atop this hill, seeming too small for anything noteworthy to happen inside. It was immaculate, the owner obviously took great care of it. But inside was a different story. Papers and posters were stuck haphazardly on the walls of the main room. A loud mechanical whirring was coming from a modern computer. It was connected to a large metal box with four metal 'spikes' sticking out in a 'diamond' shape. The 'diamond' was about 1 metre squared in area. Daniel Spinzy, a theoretical physicist, had come up with the theory behind this machine. The other person was Joe Callagher, an experimental physicist who had designed the machine.

    Tonight was the first test of the machine. It had to be done at night because that is when everyone is asleep, and not using power. The machine would be thirsty for power. It had to create enough energy to force open one of the tiny wormholes that make up the very fabric of space to make it big enough for a person to fit through. This energy would be concentrated at the centre of the 'diamond' with the force of ten atomic bombs. This immense amount of energy would be required to pay back the enormous energy debt the wormhole would undoubtedly have. It also had to be done at night for another reason. The International Scientific Community would not have let them do the experiment if they knew it existed. They had kept it secret from everyone; even their families. If the ISC found out about it, it would be destroyed so they never spoke about it except in this tiny room.

    The first test of the machine was about to begin, and the two scientists waited silently. Daniel gave a curt nod as Joe moved towards the machine. After a brief checking of everything, he peered around the room looking for any way the ISC could be watching. He motioned towards the window that was still open, to which Daniel got up and closed. He drew the curtains to make sure nobody could peek through. Only one he had sat down did Joe return to his checking. Satisfied, he flipped a switch and the machine hummed into life. The hum grew to a deafening crescendo until several flashes of electricity arced between the four 'spikes' of the 'diamond'.

Joe looked hopefully at the machine as it continued to grow louder. Eventually the noise reached a maximum and levelled off. He looked at Daniel, who returned his stare glumly. It was only the first test but, but it had cost half a million pounds and took 3 months to build. It was an expensive investment and they expected results immediately. After a couple more minutes, Joe sullenly flipped the switch again and the machine gradually quietened.

    Daniel dispiritedly opened his notebook and wrote a short entry:

"Day One Of Wormhole Generator Test

    "Today we switched the Wormhole Generator on for the first time. Other than the occasional electrical spark, no results. next test will be to charge up the machine for two days and see if this provides enough power."

    Waiting for the machine to charge would take two days, so they spent the first night going over the theory to make sure everything was as it should be.

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The two scientists were sitting together in the lab, quietly discussing the theory. They wanted to make sure that everything was perfect.

    "So, let's go over the theory again," Joe said. He didn't understand a thing about theoretical physics, so it was taking some time.

    Daniel sighed, and tried explaining it for the third time. "The machine not technically a wormhole generator, it's a wormhole enhancer."

    "So what wormholes does it enhance?"

    "The wormholes that make up the very fabric of space and time. These are only theorised, but if the machine works, it will be proven. If they do exist then these wormholes will be enlarged."

    "So how do you enhance these hypothetical wormholes?"

    "These wormholes only last for a few femto-seconds, and are only a couple of Planck lengths in size. This is because they 'borrow' energy, and have to pay it back."

    "What do you mean 'borrow'?"

    "An object can 'borrow' energy from the universe as long as it pays it back. You can 'borrow' a small amount of energy for a long time, or a large amount of energy for a short time.'

    "So?"

    "Wormholes have to 'borrow' a vast amount of energy, so they last for an incredibly short amount of time."

    "So what then?"

    "So we have to make it large enough, and last long enough, for a person to fit through."

    "And you do that by concentrating this awesome amount of energy at it?"

    "In a nutshell, yes"

    "And what happens next? You travel to the past?"

    "Not at first. The wormhole only allows you to travel to the future of a parallel universe."

    "But you said that you found a way to travel to the past!" Exclaimed Joe.

    "I'm coming to that," sighed Daniel. He carefully took a small black box from out of his pocket. "This here is a tachyon emitter. It sends messages back in time."

    "How? What are tachyons?"

    "tachyons are particles that are believed to be able to travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. This means that they must travel backwards through time."

    "And what does this tachyon emitter do?"

    "It sends a Morse code message back in time telling anyone who might be there exactly how to make the wormhole machine."

    "And they make the wormhole machine, and then what?"

    "I travel through the wormhole back to the past. Simple."

Joe knocked on the thick wooden door and entered without waiting for an answer. Daniel was at the desk, reading his papers, his brows furrowed in concentration.

He looked up and calmly nodded his head in Joe's direction. "The wormhole machine is about to be switched on for the second time. Hopefully all goes according to plan."