Reentering the house, he found Doris sitting in the living room making entries on her pad. Jim flopped into what was becoming his favorite armchair.
“Back..... stop.” The armchair reclined at his command. “Kids at their class?”
“Yes, they went in fifteen minutes ago,” Doris replied without looking up.
“How’s the paper doing?”
“Not too good.” Doris paged the text back over the entries she had just made. “All of my observations could apply to normal boys of this time.”
Jim looked up at the high ceiling with its familiar acoustic roughness. It was somewhat dome shaped with a network of shallow channels leading to vents. The total design was intended to trap and re-circulate rising hot air during the cold months and vent it outside in the summer. “You know, the more I look for changes, the more I find things haven’t changed. The technology has advanced but people are still the same.”
“That’ll disappoint a few fiction writers. Many 3V movies have portrayed people on Earth ranging from total barbarism to being part of an idyllic utopia. Some people, even now, believe that advances in technology have changed the very nature of man.”
Jim smiled. “I remember when home computers first came out. They frightened a lot of people. The idea of a nonhuman something giving you answers to questions made some people think that one day the computers would give the orders. What they didn’t realize was that humans put the answers in them in the first place.”
“Sounds like fear of the unknown.”
“Yes, but I don’t think it was fear of what it could do to them. It was more a fear that it was beyond their capability to understand and they’d be left behind. Ten years later there were home computers everywhere.”
“I see, they were afraid that they couldn’t master one so they rejected the whole concept and tried to convince others to do the same.”
“There’s one thing I don’t like about this modern technology.” Jim grimaced as he thought of the detested appliance. “That damn autosan thing in the bathroom.”
“I heard about that,” Doris said, brandishing her pad in Jim’s direction. “Andy Eastman told me what happened the first time you went to the bathroom at the lab. You screamed so loud that he ran in to fight whatever monster was attacking you.”
Jim waved a hand. “I didn’t expect a toilet to get so personal.”
“You know you did frighten everyone.”
Jim stuck out his bottom lip. “Well it frightened me first.” Jim jumped to his feet. “I forgot. I wanted to peek at that 3V class.” He walked to the door of the 3V room. “Wanted to see how much education has changed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher turned out to be Miss McNaughton. She was ancient when I had her in the fourth grade and is probably still going strong.”
Jim entered the 3V room. Three of the boys were intently watching a close up of a curious looking lizard as it clambered up a small rock.
“Where is.... ah....?”
“Paulin went to the bathroom,” his brother answered.
“I promised your mother that you’d both see this. How long has he been gone?”
“He went when it started.”
Jim walked out and straight to the nearest bathroom.
“Paulin?” he called at the door. There was no answer.
Jim climbed the stairs in the direction of the upstairs bathrooms. Passing the boy’s bedroom door he stopped. Paulin was inside. He had neatly assembled all of the boy’s action figures and was in the process of walking around them aiming what Jim recognized as a small video camera.
“Paulin?” The boy jumped with fright and hid the camera behind his back. “What’re you doing?”
“Nothing, just looking.”
Jim held out a hand. “With a camera?”
The boy was on the verge of tears. “My dad told me to do it.” He handed Jim the camera. “He said a toy company would pay a lot of money for the pictures.”
“Go back to the 3V room, and don’t mention this to anyone.”
Jim took the camera then returned to the family room and recounted what had happened to Doris.
“Do you think that’s the only reason these two are friendly with my kids?”
“No. Watching them play I could see they were genuinely becoming friends. It’s best just to keep quiet. You don’t want to ruin it for all four of them. By the sound of things their father is the only one at fault.”
Jim gave her a slight smile and exhaled heavily. “I thought you’d say that.”
“Call Amy, she can get you the security equipment that’ll detect a camera.”
Jim looked at it. “If Mr. Pelridge wants this he can come get it himself.” He studied the touch controls on the camera’s side, tapped the one marked Record and aimed it at Doris. “Smile.”
* * *
The transit arrived to pick up the two visitors. Looking out a window, Jim saw that it was without a passenger, so there was no one to have words with.
* * *
Before the sun rose, a team of men from a local security company installed the necessary equipment. It interfaced with the house computer and detected the portable power sources that mechanisms such as cameras contained. Another attachment warned of listening devices. On activation, it immediately sounded an alarm. During the course of the morning it was discovered that three intruders were listening to every word that was spoken in the house. The security team took note. They ordered the countermeasure equipment immediately and the police were informed.
Dr. Redmond arrived at about noon. It was the day of Jim’s interview.
“Jim, Amy told me about the camera incident yesterday. You, unfortunately, have to expect such things. With that much money at stake people do the craziest things.”
“I don’t blame him. I’d probably do the same thing.”
Jim stuck his hands in the pockets of his new business suit. The ensemble was more comfortable than it looked. He thought of his old Earth clothes, still in their boxes. The more he wore these new ones the less desire he had to use his old things. They were easier on the skin and didn’t wear out as fast.
“How’s the decontamination going?”
“They’re finished. Suits no longer required in the room.”
“In that case I’d like to get back there and pack. The sooner things are taken care of; the sooner our electronic friends will get bored and go away.”
Redmond smiled. “In that case the more exposure you get the better. It’ll get them bored faster hearing the same things over and over. There’s a reception tomorrow night to honor the new vice head of the university. He requested that you be there and give a speech.”
Jim’s head jerked around and his face dropped. “Speech? An interview, yes, some guy’ll ask the questions. Getting up and talking is a lot different?”
“You’ll do just fine.”
“Ok, but I warn you, I used to be known for my bad jokes.”
Redmond glanced at his watch. “Time for the interview.”
“Doc, what’s the difference between the conference room and the 3V room? They sound like the same thing.”
“Security. A conference room broadcasts and receives code scrambled signals. It also places the images all around you instead of at just one end of the room. That gives it more of a conference table atmosphere. It’s fortunate that the former owner of this house was a company executive, so you have one already installed.”
Jim took a deep breath. “I guess I’m ready. Let’s get this thing over with.”
He entered the home 3V conference room. Redmond followed. It had the same gray walls of the family 3V room and a slightly more stylish single armchair.
Redmond showed Jim the pad attached magnetically to the right side of the chair. “This is the pad interface.” He then walked to the other side and picked up a second pad. “This one has a much higher resolution. You can send and receive detailed two dimensional pictures.” He touched the side of one arm of the chair. A compar
tment opened. From it he retrieved a small earplug and a ring. “Sit down and put this in your ear.” Jim took the earplug. “Now put this ring on your finger.”
Jim did and settled back in the chair. “Now what?”
“We have set up a separate voice conference of our own. In case you want advice on how to answer a question, just touch the top of the ring and talk. The 3V’s transmitter computer freezes the image of your mouth and stops the voice transmission so no one watching can tell you’re talking. We can reply through the earpiece.”
“Sneaky. This’ll give me a lot more confidence.”
“Doris, the boys and I will be watching from the family 3V room. Amy is at her office and Jason is at home. Then of course we have Andy and Levin at the lab.”
“Some backup!”
“Top executives usually have up to a hundred advisers on hand.” Redmond turned toward the far end of the room. “Is everyone online?”
A succession of voices sounded in Jim’s ear.
“Here,” Andy said.
“I’m here,” Levin said.
“Online,” Jason said.
“It is a go,” Amy said.
“Here,” Doris said.
“I’m here too dad!” Colin said in a penetrating tone and volume that made Jim wince.
“Mr. Nagel isn’t here yet. Is he late?”
“We did offer you a dry run, but you wanted to do it cold. Carl is on Pellan covering the current session of the Commonwealth government; only his image will be here.”
“Ok, now or never, it’s show time.”
“Connection with Compton network in thirty seconds,” the computer announced.
Redmond turned to exit. “See you on 3V.”
Jim crossed his legs then uncrossed them. Folded his arms then unfolded them. Leaned to the left, the right then sat up straight.
“Connection established.”
Carl Nagel, sitting in another armchair, appeared to Jim’s left. Jim jumped, startled by his sudden appearance.
“Mr. Young, we meet at last. Just relax; we’ll be on the air in about four minutes.”
“Relaxing is going to take a bit,” Jim said. “Call me Jim.”
Jim extended a friendly hand through force of habit. Nagel looked down and smiled then extended his own. The hands never grasped. One went straight through the other. Jim, fascinated by the illusion, did it again. “Spookular, as my boys would say.”
“Yes, it is.” Nagel laughed. “Call me Carl.” He gestured to their immediate front. “We’ll have an included audience. Millions applied, we selected about eighty at random. They’ll appear out there.”
Jim noticed that Nagel had his legs crossed, so he crossed his own. Suddenly, a disembodied arm holding a cloth appeared in front of Nagel and wiped his forehead.
“Yes Frank, we will,” Nagel called then turned to Jim. “You can not see them but I’m in a room full of people.”
Jim nodded. “Can they see me?”
“They can,” Nagel said. “My assistant, Gloria, is standing right next to you’re image.”
Jim turned to the right and looked up. “Hi there Gloria,” he said in a friendly tone.
“She said hello back,” Nagel laughed. “Can we bring the audience in now? I like to have them present at least a minute before air time. It can be a bit of a shock with everything happening at once.”
“Go for it. That’s fine with me.”
“Cue audience,” Nagel announced into the air then turned back to Jim. “They’re all sitting at home just like you are.”
Moments later, the other end of the room expanded and slowly lit. Scores of armchairs appeared in rows, stacked bleacher style. Several empty chairs suddenly filled by people appearing as if from nowhere. They all looked up and straight at Jim.
Nagel straightened and addressed the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have allotted time for questions, so have them prepared.” Then to Jim. “If that’s all right with you?”
“No problems.” Jim raised an arm and nervously waved at the audience.
A general low laughter broke out, all faces were smiling, and many waved back. This friendly atmosphere had a calming affect on Jim. He sat back, locked his fingers and relaxed.
A voice came from nowhere: “On the air in five, four, three, two, one, on air.”
Nagel placed a pad on his knee. “This is Carl Nagel for Compton network news. Today I have sitting next to me the person we have all been waiting to see. Mr. Jim Young, the man from the past.” Nagel swung his chair slightly in Jim’s direction. “Tell me Jim. How have they been treating you since your arrival?”
As the interview progressed, Nagel asked only general, simple to answer, questions. Jim was now totally at ease and enjoying the situation. Nagel’s relaxed and chatty style suited him well. Hand gestures and facial expressions came naturally.
“Doing just fine,” Redmond’s voice whispered in his ear.
Questions were tactfully put regarding missing his family and friends, which Jim had no problem answering. The audience buzzed with sympathy.
“I understand that you were in the military.”
“Yes, army.”
“Could you possibly describe for us a typical day in the army?”
“Well, there was physical training at 6 a.m., exercises and a run usually between two and six kilometers. Then from 8:30 ‘til 4:30pm general equipment maintenance, records updates and training classes.”
“Did you have training at simulated warfare?”
Colin’s voice shouted in Jim’s ear causing him to wince. “Dad. Tell them about how the big guns could fire fifty klicks and blast a whole mess of guys.”
“Yes. Every few months we went into the woods, ran up and down hills firing blanks… uh… fake bullets at one another.” Jim touched the ring and spoke ventriloquist style, “Colin. Mouth shut.”
“That was live and not a 3D simulator?”
“Yes, live.”
“Did you get time to yourselves during the day?”
“We did get breaks when training permitted.”
“What did you do during your breaks?”
“Sat around, drank coffee and told stupid jokes.”
The audience chuckled.
“From that I can honestly tell you that the military hasn’t changed much.” The audience broke into a general laughter. “Other than people you knew on Old Earth, what do you think you’ll miss most?”
Jim frowned and thought. “I guess, driving my own car. These computer driven things irritate me. I like to do the steering.”
“You used to take long trips?”
“Drove for days. I used to like out of the way places with small family restaurants. They served great breakfasts.”
“I’m sure there would be a lot of interest. One of the corporations may want to consult with you on the recreation of these restaurants, possibly down to the original foods served.”
“Keep this line of talk going,” Amy whispered.
Jim chuckled. “I don’t know. The food they served was quite unhealthy by modern standards.”
Nagel turned to the audience. “Do we have a nutritionist among our viewers who could comment on this?...”
Andy’s voice. “I found a photograph in the album you showed me. You said it was inside a restaurant.”
“…One who is familiar with Old Earth food?...” Nagel said.
Andy’s voice. “I can see a menu in Colin’s hand.”
Jim, ring activated. “Jason, will someone jump the idea if we show the photo?”
“Just open a line to the network and send your credentials and experience,” Nagel said.
Jason’s voice. “Sue the hell out of them if they do.”
“Carl, I believe I have a photograph of the interior of a restaurant. If I remember correctly, an actual menu got into the picture. Don’t know if it is readable though.”
Jason’s voice. “Online with registration now. Forming a new company and entering information for
copyright.”
“We could find out. Is there an expert in early photography watching?”
A chair appeared to Jim’s right making him jump in surprise. In it was a middle-aged Asian woman hurriedly putting on a jacket.
Nagel leaned forward. “And what is your name madam?”
“I’m Professor Mariko Nashada of Edo University, department of food and nutrition.”
“What is your opinion on the health aspect of Old Earth foods?”
“I’d have to know the ingredients used. I have read the report from the Clauson laboratories where Mr. Young’s pizza is being analyzed...”
Levin’s voice. “I have your old cookbook. Give me the names of some dishes.”
The professor continued, uninterrupted by the, to her, unheard voice. “...There was nothing hazardous noted. Remember Mr. Nagel...”
Jim, ring activated. “Pancakes, omelets, hash browns, country sausage, biscuits and gravy, French toast, cinnamon toast.”
“...much work has been done in the introduction of genetically...”
Jason’s voice. “Copyright on the cookbook registered.”
“...designed bacteria into modern man’s digestive systems...”
Andy’s voice. “Just made an enlargement of the menu, it’s unreadable.”
“...We can now handle such things as cholesterol and triglycerides without a problem.”
Another chair appeared to Nagel’s left. On it sat a young blond man.
Levin’s voice. “Recipes on their way. The network’s rerouting to the professor.”
Jim leaned toward the professor and caught her attention. “I just remembered. I do have recipes for the old style of cooking. They should be coming up on your pad now.”
She picked up her pad.
Redmond’s voice. “Could specialized computer enhancement work?”
Nagel turned his chair to the left. “We have another guest on our program today. Your name sir?”
Andy’s voice. “Possibly, but we do not have the equipment.”
The blond man locked his fingers, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair. “My name is Paul Band. I’m director of the De Angelo Photographic and Imaging Museum.”
Andy’s voice. “Photograph and enlargement on the way.”
The Time Stone (The Time Stone Trilogy Book 1) Page 11