Chapter 4

THE DeLorean was set down on a grove on the outskirts of the city. Across the river was Manhatten with it's light-filled skyline that gave New York the name "The City That Never Sleeps". 

Doc was the first to get out. As he did, he said "First you've got to get out and get out of those cowboy clothes." 

"Into what?" asked Marty as he got out. 

"I'm glad you asked." said Doc, as he reached into the car and pulled out a familiar looking cylinder. "Remember this?" he asked. 

"That's the Nike gym bag that my shirt is in" said Marty. 

"Right." said Doc, "It was left with my when the first DeLorean was hit by lightening in 1955 and sent me back to 1885. When you went back to get me then went back to 1985, you left the rest of your 1985 clothes along with the leather jacket behind. I put those in here, too. It helps preserve the clothes very well, which sure beats using moth balls." 

"Alright Doc", said Marty as he got his own clothes and leather jacket and went into the nearest bush asking "What made you think showing Biff that jar of poison that you brought along would make him jump?" 

"Did you ever about Hamlet?" asked Doc. 

"Isn't he the guy in Shakespeare who learned from the ghost of his father..." asked Marty. 

"Precisely, Marty." said Doc, "Do you know the part when he had a play in the palace to see if that ghost was telling the truth?" 

"Of course, Doc." said Marty, "I know what you're getting at." 

"Well, I figured." said Doc, "If it worked for Hamlet, it would work for us." 

"I see." said Marty, "Well you're the Doc, Doc. By the way, when did you get another DeLorean?" 

"About two weeks from now." said Doc. 

"Two weeks from now?" asked Marty. 

"That's right, Marty." said Doc, "After installing new time circuits in the train, I returned to 1985 to pick up Einstein and noticed the car wreck on the tracks. So while I was in the lab I put in an order for a new DeLorean and went two weeks foward in time to pick it up. When I returned, I installed another new time circuits in it." 

"Doc." said Marty, "What about all that talk about destroying the time machine? Unnecessary time travel risking further disruption of the space time continuum?" 

"Well" said Doc, "I figured, what the hell? Are you ready yet?" 

"Yes, Doc" said Mary. 

"Then what the hell are you doing back there?" demanded Doc. 

"I had to go, Doc." said Marty as he stepped out from behind the bush, "With all that excitement in back in 1985, I didn't have time to do so. And it's a long walk to the city."

Doc looked at Marty and was shocked. His clothes shrunk and were a bit moth-eaten. Doc looked at the canister in which the clothes were in and opened a compartment. 

"Great Scott!" he said, "The batteries. I knew it. Because I used the same batteries for the last ten years they leaked and now the entire compartment is corroded. And because of that, the canister could not preserve your clothes." 

Doc reached into the car and pulled out his suitcase. Opening it he gave Marty some money. 

"This is 1964 money." he said, "Go into the city and get some 1960's clothes." 

"Check, Doc." said Marty. Once again he look at the city. It was pretty far away. "It's a long walk to the city. Plus it's spooky out here." 

"Best time and place to pick, Marty." said Doc, "Can't set the DeLorean down in the middle of Time Square in broad daylight in 1964. It's also very risky with my other two selves in the city." 

"Your other two selves?" exclaimed Marty. 

"That's right, Marty." said Doc, "While you were busy talking to Biff, I went back to 1964 to look for Biff. He did have an auto detailing service here when he was living in New York during the '60s." Doc produced a piece of paper and gave it to Marty. "This is the diner that he'll be in today at 10:30 a.m." he said. 

"Great, Doc." said Marty, "What about your other self." 

"After my mansion burned down in 1962 I moved to New York for awhile. Then I moved to San Francisco before returning to Hill Valley during the 1970's" said Doc, "I won tickets to the  Ed Sullivan show for that night from a radio contest but I was too tired and didn't bother to go.." "Okay, Doc." said Marty, "I go into New York, get new clothes, go to that diner and then what?" 

"Wait for Biff." said Doc, "He'll stop in on his way to the Plaza to wax the Beatles car. Once he arrives, sneak into his tow truck and hide. It'll take you to the parking lot. Once inside, sneak out and wait for the train to appear. The jar of poison will be falling out when it happens. Keep your eyes peeled. Follow to where it lands and get to it before Biff does and get out of there. In the meantime I'll do a site-to-site transport with the DeLorean and appear in an isolated spot near the Plaza and single by horn follow the sound and get in. We'll go back to Hill Valley in 1955." 

"1955?" asked Marty. 

"That's right, Marty." said Doc, "Remember the bolt of lightning at the clocktower?" 

"Yeah Doc." said Marty. 

"All we do is put the jar in a bag like this." said Doc producing the Blast From the Past bag from the year 2015, " And tie it to the lightening rod. Then clear out. The same bolt of lightning that sent you back to the future will be the same bolt of lightning that will vaporize the poison. Once that happens the future as we know it will be restored and the space time continuum will be saved." 

"Got it, Doc." said Marty.

 "One more thing, Marty." said Doc, "Don't talk to anyone, don't touch anything, don't interact, and what's more don't look at anything. Anything that you do beyond what I want you to do could cause further disruption to the space time continuum." 

"You're the doc, Doc." said Marty. 

Doc produced a couple of walkie-talkies and gave one to Marty. "Here are some walkie-talkies with fresh batteries." he said. 

"Right Doc." said Marty. 

"And some binoculars" said Doc, "Remember, our futures depend on this. Good luck." 

And they both embraced.

It was mid morning when Marty was in the downtown area of Manhattan. After popping in and out of one of the major stores Marty was wearing new clothes suitable for the period. He also had a new hat. Next, he went to the diner by following the address that Doc gave him. Entering the diner he sat down at the counter. 

The man on the other side of the counter asked "What will it be?" 

"Give me a Tab." was the answer. 

"A tab?" exclaimed the man, "I can't give you a tab unless you order something." 

"Alright." said Marty, "Give me a Pepsi Free." 

"If you want a Pepsi pal you gotta pay for it." said the man. 

Where have I had the conversation before? Marty asked himself. 

"Just give me something without sugar." said Marty. "Something without sugar." said the man. 

He poured out some coffee and gave it to Marty. Marty put out some money that Doc gave him. As he was sipping the coffee he looked around. He spied a group of teenagers at a table. Two of them, a boy and a girl, looked familiar. 

"Dave, Linda?" said Marty, "It can't be."

Then Marty look around some more and noticed a TV set over the counter. It was turned on and was showing the news report of the Beatles arrival from England the previous day. It showed the press conference at one of the airports that New York had. 

A voice from the TV said "Yesterday the press was covering the Beatles arrival in America. During the press conference a reporter from Hill Valley, California asked the four lads from Liverpool this question." 

The screen switch to a familiar face in the press pool. It was his father, George McFly. 

"Dad." said Marty. 

On the screen, George McFly asked "Can you sing for us." 

Then the screen switched to the Beatles who, in unison, all said "No." 

"McFly!" said a voice from behind. 

Marty turned around to see Biff. "Biff." he said to himself. 

Biff wasn't alone. He had the same three men that were with him in 1985 except they were younger. Much younger. 

"That Irish bug is here in New York." said Biff. 

"Let it go, Biff." said one of his friends. 

"How can I?" said Biff, "He's got Lorraine. The love of my life. And she's got a kid by him. All because of some no good punk named Calvin Klein." 

Marty was startled at this. He remembers me as Calvin Klein? he asked himself. Marty produced his walkie-talkie. "Doc." he said, "Come in Doc. It's me. Marty. Over." 

"Doc here. Over." said the voice from the walkie talkie. "Doc, Biff remembers me as Calvin Klein. Over." said Marty. 

"Great Scott!" said Doc's voice. 

"Doc!" asked Marty, "How could this be? I thought when you misplaced that jar of poison I was 'erased' from existence." 

"Except for one thing, Marty." said Doc's voice, "The poisoning hasn't occurred yet. Because the poisoning hasn't occurred yet, memories of you have somehow remained intact." 

"That's great, Doc." said Marty. Then Marty looked around. People were looking at him and what he was doing. Marty said "It's a cellular phone." 

"What's a cellular phone?" asked someone. 

"It's a...you'll find out." said Marty. He turned to his walkie-talkie and said "Doc, I've got to sign off. People are watching." 

"Alright, Marty." said Doc's voice, "Remember what we discussed." 

"Check, Doc." said Marty, "Over and out." He put away his walkie-talkie. 

Meanwhile, Biff continued his complaint. "That butthead cause six hundred dollars when I twice ran into manure trucks." he said. 

"Let it go, Biff." said one of his friends, "That was nine years ago." 

Marty stood there and watched them talk. They all look back at him. "What are you looking at, butt..." asked Biff, "Hey don't I know you?" He approached Marty and yanked off his hat. "Calvin Klein!" he exclaimed. 

"It can't be, Biff." said another of his friends, "Calvin Klien, must be older now. This kid hasn't aged a day." 

"He's right." said Marty, "Calvin is my older brother. I'm his kid brother..." then Marty tried to think of a name that would go well with "Klein" and then remembered studying about the Beatles and remember reading about their last money manager before they broke up in 1970. "Allen", he said "Allen Klein." 

"Alright, Allen Klein", said Biff, "Where's your big brother Calvin?" 

"Well you see..." said Marty. "Answer me or I'll beat you up punk." said Biff. 

"Not here Biff." said one of his friends, "People are watching." 

"Alright, we'll take it outside." said Biff. 

The same friend cleared his throat and said "Biff, aren't you due to wax the Beatles car?" 

"You're right." said Biff. He turned to Marty and said, giving back his hat, "You're lucky, punk. Now make like a tree and get out of here." 

At that, Marty left. Outside he spied a tow truck with a familiar logo. "Biff's Auto Detailing" it said. Noticing one of the doors unlocked and he snuck in saying  Boy, not only is he mean and rotten, he's stupid. I'm surprised nobody's snuck in and hot-wired it. 

Pulling out his walkie-talkie he said "Doc, come in." 

"Doc here." said his voice. 

"Doc." said Marty, "I'm in Biff's tow truck." 

"Good Marty." said Doc's voice, "Listen, I figured a way to make site-to-site transport without getting anyone's attention." 

"Fire away, Doc." said Marty. "When the time train appeared a lot of people looked up at the sky." said Doc, "If my calculations are correct. I will appear in the nearest alleyway at the precise moment that the train will appear. People will be looking up and will take no notice of the DeLorean appearing in the alleyway." 

Doc told Marty how to get to the alleyway after he retrieved the jar of poison. Then Marty heard footsteps. 

"Doc." he said, "Somebody's coming gotta sign off. Marty out." 

A sound of a door opening and closing was heard. Then he felt the truck moving.

Screaming was heard outside the truck as it pulled into the parking lot outside the Plaza. Then the door opened and closed. Then a conversation was heard outside. Marty took a peak. It was Biff talking to five people. Marty recognized them all. The Beatles. With them their manager Brian Epstien. 

"Now Mr. Tannen." said Brian, "I understand that you were best recommended for the job." 

"Yes sir." said Biff. 

"Please put two coats of wax on the car." said Brian, "We wish the car to shine when the boys arrive tonight." 

"Will do, Mr. Einstein." said Biff. 

"Epstien." said Brian, "Brian Epstien." 

"Whatever." said Biff. 

"Good at his work. But bad at naming names." said one of the Beatles. 

Marty recognized this Beatle. It was John Lennon, alive again. Marty remembered back in the seventh grade on that December day in 1980 when he heard that John Lennon was shot to death by some maniac. And Brian Epstien. Marty wasn't even born yet when he died of drug overdose in 1967. Marty watched the group realizing that he was watching history in the making. 

But then he realized his mission here to prevent a tragedy that was not suppose to occur here. So he quietly got out. Crawling under some cars he found the first bush he saw. Then he saw the Beatles and Brian go on up through a doorway. Marty waited. 

Flash. 

Marty looked up. There was the train with something falling out of it. Then, like that, the train was gone. The object fell to the earth but it landed on the opposite site of the lot. Marty scurried over there but was too late. Biff got there first.

 Marty heard him say "Looky what we got here." Then he saw him hit on an idea. "Imagine no George McFly." he said and he was off. 

Marty got out of hiding and followed him. Looking back he noticed the car he was waxing only had one coat of wax instead of two. 

The son of a bitch. he said to himself. He lied to me. He said he just put the second coat of wax on the car when he discovered the jar of poison.

The Beatles were enjoying a laugh when they heard Biff say "Imagine no George McFly" 

With a big smile on his face John Lennon said "What a nice title for a song."

While following Biff into the halls of the hotel, Marty pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Doc, come in." he said. 

"Doc here." said his voice, "Marty, what's wrong." 

"Doc, I'm too late." said Marty, "Biff's got the poison." 

"Great Scott!" said Doc's voice, "Marty don't take your eyes off of Biff. Follow him! And get that jar of poison. The future and your own existance depends on the success of this mission. Doc out." 

At that Marty put away his walkie-talkie. As he did he noticed Biff taking a look back. Then, Marty noticed a cart with food and bottles on a tablecloth on top. So he hid in there. He took a peak out of the cloth and saw Biff continue down the corridor. Then he felt the cart move. And turned to another hallway away from Biff. Marty tried to get out but he couldn't. Then he looked ahead and saw that he was heading into an elevator. The doors closed and the elevator moved up. The doors opened and the cart was moving through another corridor towards a door. The door opened and Marty saw himself entering a hotel room. Then he heard footsteps leaving and the door closing. Marty got out and produced his walkie-talkie.

 "Doc, come in." said Marty. 

"Doc here." said his voice. 

"Doc", said Marty, "I've lost Biff. I was hiding away from him in a cart and got wheeled away from him. I'm in someone's hotel roo..." 

His voice trailed off as he looked around and noticed some musical instruments. Three guitars and a drum kit. On the big drum under the "Ludwig" logo were the words "The Beatles." 

"Holy gees." said Marty, "I'm in the Beatles' hotel room." 

"You are?" asked Doc's voice. 

"Yeah, Doc." said Marty, "This is heavy. There's Ringo's drum kit. Paul's bass guitar..." 

"Marty," said Doc's voice, "this is not the time for a lesson in musical instruments. Get out of there and find Biff." 

"Roger, Doc." said Marty, "Marty out."

He put his walkie-talkie away and headed for the door. As he was about to open a door when he heard another cart being wheeled in. Marty ducked into the nearest closet and closed the door. The hotel room door opened and another cart came in. Then the person wheeling in the cart left.

  More food and drinks said Marty to himself, The Beatles must had a big appetite in those days.  

Then he saw someone emerge from under the tablecloth of the cart. It was one of the girls at the diner that was talking to the Dave-Linda look-a-likes. He saw her touching the instruments, drinking their drinks. Then, to Marty's terror, she headed his way and opened the closet door. Marty turned to hide behind the clothes only to hear the girl scream. 

"Take it easy." said Marty, "I'm harmless." 

Then the girl was startled again. This time seeing Marty. 

"Who are you?" she asked. 

"Ma... Allen Klein." said Marty, "Look, I'm sorry I startled you." 

"You didn't startle me." said the girl, "It was the picture behind you."

Marty turned around to see a life-sized poster of Ringo. 

"Holy geez." he said. Then he turned to the girl and said "Listen I've got to go. Do you need an escort out of here." 

"What do you mean 'out of here'." 

"Well," said Marty, "You're in the Beatles hotel room. You shouldn't be here. If you're caught. You could be in trouble." 

"I could take care of myself." said the girl. 

"Well, I tried." said Marty, "I gotta go. See you later. Much later." Then he turned to the door again only to hear footsteps. "Quick." said Marty, "Hide."

 Marty hid in the closet again and the girl hid under the bed. The door opened and in came the Beatles. And it looked like they were going to stay for a while. 

"Great." said Marty to himself. "Just great."