Back To The Future, Part II

Marty pulled out the walkie-talkie and flipped it on. 'Yo, Doc!’ he called softly. ‘Come in, Doc!

‘Hello?’ Doc’s voice replied. ‘Marty? Come in?’

Doc’s voice was followed by an incredibly loud burst of static. Biff half turned toward the back seat with a ‘what the -’ expression on his face. He must have heard that! Marty turned the walkie-talkie down - way down. Biff looked back at the convertible's radio and started to fiddle with the knobs.' Marty realised

with relief that Biff must have thought the static came from up there. Biff ended up turning the radio up even louder.

Maybe, Marty thought, he should try to contact Doc again. He decided to wait a minute first - he didn’t want any more sudden noises to make Biff suspicious. He had to stay as inconspicuous as possible, until he could get that sports book.

Marty wasn’t answering his radio again. He must be somewhere where it was difficult to talk. Doc stuck his walkie-talkie back in his pocket. He would have to concentrate on his pedalling for now and hope that, if Marty called again, there would be something he could do to help.

’Great Scott!’ Doc exclaimed. He’d been so busy talking to Marty, he hadn’t realised where he had pedalled to.

He stopped the bike and stared.

He was in Courthouse Square, on that night in 1955 when this whole thing had begun. There it was in front of him, all the parts of the so-called ‘lightning experiment’ - in reality a set-up to return Marty and the time-machine back where they belonged, in 1985. If only he had left well enough alone after that! Oh well. It was no use cursing crossed wires. They had already saved themselves, and members of Marty’s family, more than once by using time travel. They would get through these problems, too - somehow.

In the meantime, though, he was here, at the site of his first great triumph. Now, the sooner he got back to the DeLorean, the better, but - it wouldn’t hurt to relive this experience for just a minute, would it? As he recalled, it was Thomas Wolfe who had said ‘You can’t go home again’. Well, maybe you couldn’t, but if you had a time machine, you could get awfully damn close!

There it was, the wire running down from the clock tower to the lamppost, and the toolbox on the trailer, sitting next to the DeLorean hidden under the tarpaulin. It gave Doc a thrill just to see everything set up again. Wasn’t science wonderful?

Wait a minute - there on the tarp - that was his coat, or at least the coat he wore in 1955 - well, when he was originally in 1955. Whatever. He reached his hand forward to check the pocket. Yep. The letter was in there, the one Marty had written about Doc’s future. There was the envelope - ‘Do Not Open Until 1985!’ And Doc knew enough now to leave it there.

But it was time to get back on his bike and return to ; the DeLorean, before something else happened.

His walkie-talkie squelched to life.

‘Yo, Doc, come in!’ Marty called. ‘Are you there?’ Doc pulled the radio out of his pocket, quickly turning the volume down. He didn’t want the noise to attract any undue attention - especially around here.

‘Marty! ’ Doc whispered into the microphone. ‘What happened? I went to Biff’s house, but you weren’t there!’

‘You must have just missed me ,’ Marty whispered back. ‘I'm in the back of Biff's car. He's driving to the school.'

To the school? Doc didn't like the sound of that.

'Listen, Marty, we may have to abort this entire plan. It's getting much too dangerous.'

'Don't worry, Doc,' Marty reassured him. 'The book is on biff's dashboard. I'll be able to grab it as soon as we get to the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance.'

What? This was even worse!

You’re going to the dance?' he asked, his voice growing louder as panic threatened to set in. ‘Marty, you must be extremely careful not to run into your other self!'

‘My other self?’ Marty asked.

‘Yes,' Doc continued, ‘remember? Your mother is on her way to that exact same dance with you! ’

‘Oh. ' Marty’s voice sounded a little surprised.

‘Yeah, that’s right! Hey, that’s cool. Doc. Maybe I’ll say hello to myself.'

‘No!’ Doc felt like he might have a heart attack. ‘Marty, whatever happens, you must not let your other self see you. The consequences could be disastrous!

‘Excuse me, sir!’ a voice said behind him - a voice that was disturbingly familiar. Where had he heard - Doc glanced behind him and saw himself - well, a different version of himself, circa 1955 - emerging from under the tarp. Yes! He remembered. He had worked inside the car on that night. And then he had - come out!

But this was terrible! Doc turned off the walkie-talkie and pulled his hat down over his head. Maybe, if he kept his back to his earlier version, the other Doc Brown would just go away.

But the other Doc Brown insisted on making contact. ‘Yes,’ he said, even louder than before, ‘you there, withthehat!’