Time travelers Jake Lawson, Patricia Wardon, and their small entourage travel to 1801 England to observe young Jane Austen, who to Jake seems incredibly unimpressive while Patty observes that she is full of sentimental claptrap. Things, however, are not always what they seem.
This is the fourth timestep I’ve made, and I can never quite get used to arriving downtime with nary a stitch in place. I know the engineers have explained the scientific reasons why this must be so, something about biostatic energy not being transferable to inert objects, but if that’s the case, why don’t we also lose our teeth, our nails, and hair at the same time?

Variants

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  1. “Saving Jane Austen” by Robert Reginald, in Katydid & Other Critters, edited by Robert Reginald (Ariadne Press, June 2001).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert Reginald