13178 days to reach him
4422
Sending date: 25/12/2653 (Now: 25/12/2653)
Received date: 13/04/2645 (Now: 02/02/2666)
Merry Christmas John,
I wish you could be here; your father and I respect your decision and hope your voyage has been everything you could have ever hoped for. Hope things are keeping well with you and Lucy and the colony is thriving.
We know we will never see you again but we're looking forward to receiving the first messages from you.
-Your mother
Sending date: 12/03/2654 (Now: 12/03/2654)
Received date: 29/06/2645 (Now: 20/04/2666)
Happy birthday John,
At least it's nearly your birthday in the now anyway. I suppose by your reckoning we missed it. Miss you lots.
Love mam
Sending date: 25/12/2654 (Now: 25/12/2654)
Received date: 12/04/2646 (Now: 02/02/2667)
Happy Christmas again John,
I only wish I could reply to your letters. I look forward to the day the causality lapse expires.
Me and the other mothers have been getting onto the council to get them to let us send the message beacon back at a better time but you know how those fuddy duddies are. Its all procedures and paperwork. The way they say it we should be thankful we're not having to send you these messages through radio. Imagine that! Its bad enough for me not getting acknowledgement of your receipt let alone having to send messages over flat space!
Hope all is going well with you, Lucy and the other colonists!
Love mother
Sending date: 20/05/2646 (Now: 28/06/2658)
Received date: 31/01/2655 (Now: 31/01/2655)
Dear mother,
I miss you loads. It saddens me greatly to think you won't be receiving this for another for another decade. Even though causality expired some time ago we've had trouble getting our transmitter set up.
Everything is going well so far. The planet is as the surveys said, fairly like a wetter version of Mars or Chronos, the potential is good for terraformation in the future.
We've already due the first kid born here, Ivan and Jun just found out they were expecting last week; kinda weird to think really, as I'm writing this they haven't even met each other yet and here I am talking of them starting a family.
Hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated regularly from now on…well…from 9 years time on anyway as soon as you get this. Hope the world isn't devoured by giant space ants in the intervening time period. LOL.
-John
Sending date: 12/03/2655 (Now: 12/03/2655)
Received date: 02/06/2646 (Now: 20/04/2667)
Dear John,
So much I'd like to say to you now but can't due to causality. We're really going to have to get these sending dates changed!
I suppose what I can do is keep you informed on family matters though no?
Your brother has moved Up. He got a job as a robotics engineer on Norn, he's very happy up there and keeping in touch regularly. I only wish things were so convenient for worlds away from the trinity. I keep saying this but I really do miss you lots!
Your cousin Berty meanwhile seems determined to follow in your footsteps! He has only just entered secondary school but already he's talking of found a new colony downstream!
Your auntie Pam keeps telling him that's a bad idea, all the best worlds are Up but he's determined to follow his cousin John and go back in time! You never know, maybe you'll be hearing from him soon?
Love mam
Sending date: 10/07/2648 (Now: 18/08/2660)
Received date: 21/03/2657 (Now: 11/03/2657)
Dear mother,
Wonderful news. Me and Jane are expecting!
It came as quite a surprise to us, we never had any treatments or anything. It just happened, totally naturally! We're still going to get some post-conception work done of course, it's only fair for the child, but quite amazing to think, you're going to be a nanna!
Hell, you are a nanna! Haha.
-John
Sending date: 25/12/2660 (Now: 25/12/2660)
Received date: 13/04/2652 (Now: 02/02/2673)
Merry Christmas John,
I keep saying it and your father keeps telling me its not really Christmas for you but hell, I like saying it!
I just wish this causality stuff didn't stand between us. Luckily there's talk in the government about working it out better, those politicians can't get their heads around it though, they're still stuck in the old trinity system of instant communications between Down, Now and Up. They're not used to all this Now-10 lark. Idiots, you'd think they would have realised secondary colonisation would happen!
Lots of love, mam
Sending date: 13/05/2004 (Now: 13/05/2680)
Received date: 24/05/2653 (Now: 02/02/2662)
To John,
You probably don't remember me but I remember you. My name is Bert Walsh, you know, your aunt Pam's youngest?
This is going to sound really weird but my temporal supervisor determined this wouldn't damage causality in anyway so I'm allowed to send it to you. Just whatever you do, DO NOT SEND WORD OF THIS TO NOW.
But then I hardly need to tell you that do I. You're a seasoned chrononaut like myself aren't you!
John, you were my hero as a kid. The kind of guy I wanted to grow up to be like. It wasn't just standard older cousin worship, when you left Now to found a new colony downstream…Man, I just knew that was what I wanted to do.
I'm just writing to say…you know…Thanks John.
Hope some day soon they'll crack 3D travel then we can meet. I know your mother would really like that, she censored, haha.
Hope I can hear from you sometime at least. It'll probably be a long wait though; I'm allowed to write to you but my TS says to tell you much about where I am could be dangerous. Oh well.
-Bert