by Edward Gates
Steven shook his head and Michael headed for the lab door and stopped abruptly. “Oh my God!”
Steven joined Michael and stood staring at the doorway. Coming through the door was Doctor Zeller and Russell Hicks. Russell was limping a bit and holding onto Doctor Zeller’s arm as they walked. Behind them walked four well-armed enforcers.
“Gentlemen,” Doctor Zeller said, “I have a few announcements to make. As you can see, Mr. Hicks has rejoined us. He has quite a story to tell that I think you two need to hear. I think we should go into the conference room for a while. Shut everything down. As of right now, this project is going to take a different turn.”
Steven was quick to welcome Russell back with a smile, a handshake, and a pat on the back. “No wonder we couldn’t find you. You’re already here!” The joy of seeing Russell again was evident with Steven’s smile. Michael, a little pale, didn’t move. His expression was one of fear and confusion. Russell looked at Michael. As their eyes met Russell shook his head and Michael turned away. Doctor Zeller helped Russell into the conference room while Michael and Steven shut down the system under the watchful eyes of the four security enforcers. When all was shut down they went into the conference room and closed the door behind them. Two of the enforcers entered the conference room while the other two stood outside the closed door.
It was almost dawn when they all emerged from the conference room. They were tired and worn out, both physically and emotionally. With his head bowed and tears rolling down his cheeks, Michael was led away in handcuffs by two guards. Doctor Zeller had the guard captain issue orders to apprehend Paul Camber and immediately pull all contracts from his corporation and put everything involving that company on hold pending investigations. Steven walked out alongside Russell and Dr. Zeller.
“What’s going to happen to Mike?” Steven asked.
Doctor Zeller turned to face Steven. “Hopefully he’ll cooperate and tell us what information, if any, he leaked out. He could go away for a long time for espionage. We’ll just have to see how bad we’ve been hurt.”
“What about Camber?” Russell asked.
“He was the instigator behind all of this,” Doctor Zeller replied. “He tried to have you eliminated. I’m sure he was just following orders. There has to be someone higher up pulling his strings. Their government contracts will most likely be cancelled and a full investigation launched. It won’t go very far because they own half the politicians, but at least the investigation will appease the other half. Camber won’t see the light of day for a long time. He’ll probably end up as the fall guy for all this. You were lucky, Russell.”
“Yeah, I guess I was. It’s mind boggling. Here a person who hasn’t been born yet saved my life four centuries ago. Makes you wonder what the hell we’re doing.”
Doctor Zeller turned and looked at Steven. “Go home for the remainder of this week. Get some rest. Get out of this complex for a while. Go away and think. When we get back together next week, we will be heading in a new direction.” She turned to Russell. “You promised the medical team to go to their clinic this morning and have that wound taken care of properly. After that, you need to take some time and get some rest as well. I want both you and Steve to start fresh when you get back. So think about what we discussed.”
Steven double checked the equipment and made sure everything was shut down and the documents were all locked up. He then left the building leaving Russell and Doctor Zeller in the lab with two security enforcers. They began a slow walk through the now quiet lab toward the front door.
“I want to see that belt as soon as you get back from medical,” Doctor Zeller ordered. Russell stopped. After a long pause he shook his head. Doctor Zeller stopped and looked at him with a quizzical look about her.
“That can’t happen,” Russell said. “That belt is destroyed. I made a promise to Charlie that I would destroy it as soon as I got back.”
“You didn’t!” Doctor Zeller said, shocked.
Russell nodded. “Charlie knew firsthand the dangers and problems with time travel. He couldn’t let his equipment contribute to any further time jumps. He made me promise to destroy it and that’s what I did.” It was a lie. Russell knew that Doctor Zeller would have it analyzed and quickly duplicated. She would do it with all the best intentions for the good of the project, but the possibility and probability of it being misused or falling into the wrong hands was too great. Russell couldn’t let that happen. If anybody was going to analyze that belt, it was going to be him.
Doctor Zeller shook her head. “How could you do that?” Her disappointment was plainly visible. She walked to the lab door in silence and stood looking out at the early morning sunlight. “Are you going to be all right?” Doctor Zeller asked.
“In what sense?” Russell replied with a smile. “The wound is already feeling better. I’m sure it will heal fine. I’m not sure about the rest of me. But, I think our new direction of only working on teleportation, and scratching the time-travel portion, is the right way to go.”
“Russell, I want you to head this project,” Doctor Zeller said. “I’ll get it squared away later. When you come back you’ll be the tech director for this. Is that okay with you?”
Russell’s eyes widened and he felt his jaw drop open. He heard Charlie’s voice echoing in his mind telling him he would someday be important. He smiled at the recollection and thanked Doctor Zeller for the opportunity and promotion. “I’ll do my best,” he said. “But, I got to be honest with you. Once this project gets moved along I’ll most likely be leaving.”
Doctor Zeller was a little surprised by his statement. “Why? Where will you go? What will you do?”
“I have quite a few education credits that I’ve earned that I have to spend. I think I’ll head back to school for some brush-up classes. I made a promise to an old friend about continuing my studies. I’ve always wanted to teach, so I’ll be heading in that direction. Once this project goes public, and it will eventually, it will open up an entire new industry. There will be a huge demand for educators in that field. I want to be there at the beginning.”
Doctor Zeller smiled. “A great idea. That’s why you’re so valuable. You’re always thinking ahead. You seem to be able to see the future. You sure you’re okay?” she asked.
Russell smiled and nodded. Then he looked at her and asked “How ‘bout you? Are you going to be all right?”
Doctor Zeller chuckled. “I think I can sell this project change. It would be a lot easier to sell it with that belt in hand, though.” Russell smiled and looked away for a moment. “Anyway, if I can’t sell it, we all may be going back to school. Go get some rest. You’re going to need it. Get that wound taken care of. I’ll take care of the bosses. Good night or I guess it’s now good morning, Russell.”
Doctor Zeller turned and headed toward the admin building, escorted by the two security enforcers. She stopped and turned. “It’s good to have you back.”
Russell stood alone at the door of the now quiet lab. He looked around and felt at home. Charlie was right. He had to come back. He had a smile on his face as he recalled his brief time with Charlie. Maybe I’ll take some American History courses this time. And then chuckled as he shut off the last light switch plunging the lab into darkness.
32
Epilogue
June, 2245
The systems in Doctor Hicks’s office had been running all day and all night. Various three-dimensional virtual displays hung suspended in mid-air around the room. Russell, now 46 years old, watched the search results with increasing frustration. He couldn’t believe there were no historical records anywhere regarding a Texas Ranger named Charlie Turlock. Russell could not shake the feeling that something was wrong and that it had to do with Charlie. He hadn’t thought much about that old ranger in the past twenty years. Now, he couldn’t get him off his mind.
Apparently, Charlie had done a good job of covering his tracks. The computers had been hacking into every historical record and ar
chive data bank it could find. So far the only historical record it found was regarding a C. Turlock who served with the 4th Virginia Infantry in the Northern Virginia Campaign during the Civil War. He was one of the many men listed as missing during the Battle of Slaughter Mountain near Cedar Creek.
While the scans continued, Doctor Hicks was busy packing up his personal belongings in his office. He had been teaching astrophysics and fundamental principles of teleportation since his graduation. He recently resigned his teaching position and accepted a new position with the government overseeing the development of teleportation hubs for the private sector. His work and research had been groundbreaking in every aspect and he had become the recognized authority on teleportation. A feat he secretly attributed to the existence of Charlie’s time belt.
Lately, Doctor Hicks had been experimenting with remote viewing and telepathic transmissions, and had some pretty impressive results with some of his students. With these feelings about Charlie, he was wondering if telepathic thought transmissions could happen across space/time.
It had been twenty-five years since Charlie sent Russell back from Amarillo. Russell continued to work for Doctor Zeller for a few more years before he left and returned to school. As he promised, he dove into his studies and advanced to the top of his field. He also promised Charlie that he would never return. But now, he had to find out about that old ranger and going back to the nineteenth century may be the only answer.
The computers couldn’t find any trace of him after the Civil War. He tried having a few of his best remote viewers find Charlie via psychic and telepathic means. But they all came up empty. He had to go back. If for no other reason than to settle the feelings of gloom he had for the past few days.
Since Russell had returned to his home in New York in 2220, he had become an avid collector of old west artifacts. He collected period clothing, some furniture, coins, old tools, household objects, etc. He became fascinated with the “Old West”, since he had actually been there. Russell changed into one of his vintage 19th century vested suits, placed a dark brown derby on his head, pocketed as many antique coins as he could carry, and pulled Charlie’s time belt from a locked safe he kept hidden in his closet. He had promised Charlie he would destroy the belt once he returned to his own time, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt bad about lying to Doctor Zeller about its destruction, but it was too valuable to his work and it had to be kept a secret.
Russell stepped into the shower compartment of his bathroom, strapped on the belt and initiated the sequence. He was engulfed in the familiar blue-green light and the virtual display appeared before him. Russell adjusted the settings on the display, entered the coordinates for Amarillo, Texas and set the date for June 27, 1912 - twenty years after Charlie sent him home. Russell watched the timer count down. He closed his eyes when the counter reached one, heard a snap and he blacked out.
When Russell opened his eyes, he was lying in a field a few yards from the road that led into Amarillo. He lay still for a few moments taking stock of his condition. No nerve pains, no crazy vision issues, no jumbled memory or thought patterns. He woke completely intact and fully aware of his senses. It was dawn and he could see the outline of the city off in the distance. Russell was surprised to see how much Amarillo had grown over the past twenty years.
He dusted himself off and walked around the outskirts of the town until he came to the train depot. He stayed hidden among the stock corral, cargo crates, and storage bins until a train pulled into the station. When the train stopped, he blended in with the disembarking passengers. No one paid any attention to middle-aged Russell Hicks as he made his way out of the depot and walked down Polk Street.
He stopped and surveyed the city. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The city was now a large metropolis. Russell noticed that the intersecting side streets had all been named or numbered. The back alleyway that paralleled Polk Street was now called Tyler Street and was a thriving business and residential district on its own. On the other side of Polk was Taylor Street which began the residential area. The Amarillo Hotel was still there, but now had a three story brick annex next to it where the saloon was. A lot of the old wooden structures had been replaced with brick and stone buildings. Polk Street was still the central business area of Amarillo and now featured a trolley motoring up and down tracks in the center of the street. A number of motorcars were parked where horses were once tied. Russell chuckled at seeing horses and wagons standing alongside cars.
He continued walking down Polk Street past the hotel trying to get his bearings. Everything was different. He stopped and stood outside a large two-story brick and stone building which housed a hardware store on the street level and a law office and real estate office on the second floor. He kept staring at what he believed should be Hanna’s Eatery and Marshall Cook’s office. Russell looked around trying to decide if this was the right spot or not. He was sure this was where the marshal’s office used to be. A clerk from the store saw Russell staring at the building and walked out onto the sidewalk.
“You lost, mister?” the clerk asked.
“No, at least I don’t think so,” Russell answered with a smile. “I was looking for the marshal’s office,” then quickly added, “I haven’t been here in twenty years. I’m amazed at how the town has grown.”
“I suppose it has. I wouldn’t know about that.” The clerk reported. “I’ve only been here a few years. Came up from Fort Worth. But the story I got about this place is that there used to be a restaurant here and it had a fire quite a few years ago that took out a couple other businesses. After the fire they built this building.”
“Do you know where the marshal is?” Russell asked.
“Well, we ain’t got a marshal. We got us a police captain, though. The police station is over on Fourth Street near Tyler. They may be able to help you.”
“Police station? Thank you. I’ll head over there.”
Russell stood for another moment trying to envision the fledgling town of twenty years ago. He crossed the street and walked a couple of blocks to the old ranger’s office. The old red brick building was still there and hadn’t changed much, with the same plaque on the brick wall and the same brass star on the same white door. Russell went into the office and was surprised to see that it looked almost exactly like it did when Charlie shoved him in there so long ago. The only difference was that the map of Texas on the back wall had been replaced with a newer one.
“Good morning. Can I help you with something?” a young ranger asked.
“Well, I don’t know,” Russell began. “I’m trying to locate an old ranger who used to be here by the name of Turlock. Do you know anything about him?”
“Turlock? Didn’t know him. But, I heard a few stories about him. Just a minute.”
The young ranger walked to the door that had COMMANDER painted on the frosted glass. He knocked and walked in, closing the door behind him. A minute or two later he called to Russell and ushered him into the commander’s office.
“My name’s Captain Sanders,” the commander said, “I hear you’re looking for a ranger named Turlock.”
“That’s right, Captain. Charlie is an old family friend and I haven’t seen or heard from him since I left here some twenty years ago,” Russell explained.
“Could I ask your name?” Captain Sanders asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Russell Hicks. He used to just call me Hicks.”
“Well, glory be!” the captain said. “I never thought you’d show up.”
His remark caught Russell by surprise. How could he possibly know about me? The captain walked over to a safe that was unlocked and standing open and pulled an old, stained, and well-worn envelope from the safe.
“I don’t know much about Turlock,” the captain said, “All I know is what I heard. He was gone by the time I got stationed here.”
“Gone? Gone where?” Russell asked.
“Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your f
riend died some twenty years ago. His cabin was burnt down and they found his body inside the burned out cabin. I’m sorry. A few days after the fire, this envelope arrived by stage addressed to HICKS at this office, that’s all.” The captain handed Russell the envelope. “That’s you, ain’t it?” Russell nodded and accepted the envelope. “Damnedest thing. Nobody knew where it came from or who sent it. It sat around here for a while, waiting for someone to pick it up. Somebody finally opened it and all they found was a badge and a note in it. Nobody knew what to do with it. Eventually, somebody just tossed it in the safe and never got around to throwing it out.”
“Dead?” Russell said quietly. He remembered that night. He remembered Mac’s body. Charlie wasn’t dead, Russell thought. He just wanted everyone to think he was. He carefully opened the envelope. It was apparent that it had been opened many times before. The only contents were Charlie’s badge and a note that had two series of numbers written on it.
“With the badge, an’ all, we sort of figured it might have had something to do with Turlock, but we didn’t know what. Nobody knew what the hell those numbers meant,” said Captain Sanders. “Officially he was listed as deceased in the line of duty, but somehow, somewhere, his records were lost. No one can find out anything about him. It’s like he never existed.”
Russell smiled. You clever bastard. “Can I keep this?” Russell asked holding up the badge.
“Sure,” said the captain. “Those numbers mean anything to you?”
“Not at all,” Russell replied. “I can’t imagine.”
Another lie. Russell knew right away they were longitude and latitude coordinates. But he knew wherever Charlie was hiding, he wanted to stay hidden. So he wasn’t going to let the rangers know anything. “Well, I guess I’ll be on my way. Thanks for the information, Captain.” Russell rose, the two shook hands, and he headed for the door. “Oh, would you know anything about a Marshal Cook who was here about twenty years ago?”