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start time is only a
prediction. Who knows when the flight will actually take off – you
must have had your share of delayed flights. And no–one can predict
how long it will take the hijackers to gain control of an aeroplane
and change course. You’re describing something you’ve already seen
happen, rather than what is planned to happen.”
    I was about to say, ‘this
is definitely not a dream, it’s real,’ when I realized that this
was the perfect explanation – and one they might believe. Many
people have dreams, visions or premonitions of something that’s
about to happen. And this man (whom I later discovered was a
psychologist called Dr Skinner) was not saying that I had made it
up; he was proposing it was some sort of precognition, which was
actually totally valid.
    “ I thought
you’d think I was crazy,” I said at last. “I didn’t think you’d
take it seriously if I said I had a vivid dream.”
    The psychologist smiled
and nodded at Rodgers, who said “Thank you for your time Joe. We’re
going to pass on all the details to Washington, and it’s up to them
what they do with it. Obviously, it’s very different from the usual
type of tip off, and I don’t know how they’ll respond. Many people
have dreams about disasters, but ninety–nine percent of them don’t
concern real events. Yours, though, has an unusual amount of
detail. We do need you to wait at the airport for a little while
longer, I’m afraid. Anything else you can remember will be
extremely valuable to us, and the FBI in Washington is likely to
want to talk to you – we’ll need your work, home and mobile phone
numbers, and a copy of your passport.”
    “ Do you think
they’ll act on this?” I asked.
    “ Well, the
last time we passed on such detailed information, they heavily
tightened up security and grounded every Eastern seaboard flight
for five hours. I would expect the same again.”
    I said I was happy to
help, and gave Rodgers the details he wanted. When he saw my phone,
he was immediately very interested.
    “ Is that a
mobile? I’ve never seen one like that before – what is it?” My
phone would not be on the market for another six years, so I had to
think quickly.
    “ Oh, this…
it’s a ‘Smart phone’. Just a prototype from the Far East. My wife
works for a Taiwan company, and she got it for me.
    “ Can I see
it?” asked Rodgers. I reluctantly handed the phone over and showed
him how it worked. Both he and the psychologist were stunned.
“Where can I get one?” Rodgers asked.
    “ Umm... they
should be out sometime soon.” I quickly took the phone back and put
it away.
    “ Oh, one more
thing,” Rodgers said as we left the security area, “we couldn’t
find your flight – no listing for that flight number. Did you mean
this one?” He showed me details of another flight to New York with
a similar number.
    “ Yes, that’s
the one,” I lied.
    “ We can
reschedule your flight for this afternoon, if that helps; but if
all East Coasts flights are grounded, you may want to reconsider
your flight plans.”
    I thanked
Rogers for his help, and left quickly before he realised I wasn’t
booked on any flight in that decade. It seemed like there was
nothing more I could do to help, and went to get a coffee. If I
wasn’t meant to interfere in wheels of history, then nothing I said
or did would make any difference. But what if I could change history… what
then?
    As I sat in
Starbucks stirring sugar into my Americano, with Jennifer Lopez
singing ‘I’m Real ’
on the café’s hi–fi, I contemplated the ability to travel back in
time at will. Was this just a one–off? Did it work just for 2001,
or could I return to other periods in history – or go forward into
the future?
    I finished my coffee, and
changed the date on my phone back to September 11, 2014. Everything
wobbled again. Jennifer Lopez was still singing the same song, but
the décor in the café had changed. I ran to find the newsstand