Giving Up the Ghost

by Aeryn Rudel

Release: 26 June 2021
Format: Flash Fiction
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

An assassin jumps back into her 17-year-old body where she takes care of her mission and has a little time left over.

— Michael Main

My target is a few blocks from here, which is why the Department of Temporal Enforcement chose me for the assignment. Proximity is important. The less you move around, the less likely the time stream gets fucked up.

DEBUT

“Giving Up the Ghost,” in Flashpoint Science Fiction, 26 June 2021.

VARIANTS

1 English variant

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Timeline Models

Remembering Different Timelines: “My brain still can’t get used to McDavids instead of McDonalds.”

Time Travel Methods

Unexplained Time Travel Methods

Themes

Fix History!
Kill the Despot/Psychopath/Etc. (excluding Hitler)
Meeting or Viewing Ancestors or Descendants: spending time with Dad
Time Corps: the Department of Temporal Enforcement
Travels into Yourself: from age 46 to age 17, but not tagged as young again, because the story is not focussed on the thrill of being young

Groupings

Flashpoint Science Fiction (periodical)

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From an unspecified place, AD 2021 ⋙ to the narrator’s bedroom at age 17, 3 May 1992. Round trip. Note: a three-hour tour.