Timeshock - I Want My Life Back by Timothy Michael Lewis

as he had grown to really like Zac but he knew he needed to get back.   He was on the wrong side of the galaxy but he still needed to go back.
    “Goodbye Zac - thanks for all your help - now get to the ship and get out of here!” Nigel said.

    After a parting wave Nigel stepped back onto the time machine and set it to go back 150 years.   He was looking for a ride home so he didn’t want to go back too far - just before the Bilozians attacked Earth.

    Time began to slow and then reverse as he travelled back in time.   He now appeared to be floating in open space.   This was the moment when he would see if the teleportation modification Zac had made would work.   Nigel held his breath.

Chapter 13
    As time began to flow in the normal direction again, Nigel was really concerned.   He was still floating in space.   Suddenly he felt a shudder as the teleportation device kicked in.
    He found himself on the time machine on a desolate planet.   It was sandy wasteland for as far as he could see.   The atmosphere was breathable but was extremely dry.   He looked in the sky and saw three suns - one red, one blue and one green.   The heat and humidity were unbearable.

    Nigel stowed the time machine in his storage diamond and looked for some kind of habitation.   He cursed the fact that the teleportation device’s idea of a habitable planet was a bit more liberal than his.   He needed shelter and water fairly fast or he would die.
    Nigel looked around for any kind of major hill or landmark but saw nothing but never-ending desert.   There weren’t even any large sand dunes - everything was pan flat.   Nigel determined to walk towards the red sun, to at least avoid walking in circles.

    For hour after hour Nigel walked, staggering onward.   He saw no sign of anything promising.   He suddenly realised that he needed to take another approach.   He set the time machine to go back another 50 years, hoping the climate might have been better then.
    As he travelled back through time he saw great explosions as it appeared someone had blasted the entire surface of the planet with nuclear weapons.   He thought he was lucky not to have travelled back to the time of the actual explosions. He went back another twenty or so years and then he emerged from the machine again.

    This time the world had vegetation of a peculiar yellow colour but still no obvious water or shelter.   He stowed the time machine again as he didn’t think things would get better in any other time on this planet.

    In the distance he saw something that looked like a vehicle coming towards him.   He started to walk towards it.   However he felt his legs give way as he became more and more heat exhausted.   Nigel collapsed.   This was the end - he thought.

    Nigel woke up inside a purple-coloured vehicle.   He was attached to a drip of some kind.   Looking around, he saw a disgusting sight - a horrid looking brown excrement-coloured creature with long slimy tentacles.   As he looked at it a dreadful smell permeated Nigel’s nostrils and he began to feel nauseous.

    The alien waddled towards Nigel. The smell was almost over-powering.

    “Hello!   Found you in the desert! I revived you! Me Mindoan! Hope you are all right!” the alien spoke.
    “I am Nigel.   Thank you. I’m fine.” Nigel fought through his naturally negative feelings towards the Mindoan, remembering what Zac had said about them.

    “Good, Good! Where do you want to go?” asked the Mindoan.
    “Err… do you have a city or somewhere I could stay?” asked Nigel.   The smell was really making him sick.
    “Yes, we go to Niana - capital of Mindoa.” The Mindoan moved away and went back to the controls of the vehicle.   Nigel was relieved and then fell asleep again.

    A loud screeching noise jolted Nigel awake.   The Mindoan walked near to Nigel again.
    “Get up! We are here!   Niana!” A door on the side of the vehicle lowered down and the alien waddled out of the vehicle.