by A. E. Albert
Preston’s brows furrowed as he gazed at his son in confusion. “What? No, you don’t! I told you, I’m sorry for what I said. Don’t worry about the Sphere, we’ll work it out.”
Billy took a deep breath, determined to make his father believe him, believe in him. “I do. The Sphere isn’t safe here, too many people know about it.” His voice was firm.
Preston swiveled around in his stool and stared at his son dumbfounded. Billy looked his father straight in the eye and said in a voice full of resolve, “I’m returning to my own time, and I’m taking your Device with me.”
“You can’t be serious! You shouldn’t have heard me talking with Herald! Besides, the door is here, and you can’t take that with you.”
“That you can destroy. I’ll keep the Device. You know that other than you, I’m the only one who’ll know I have it.”
His father appeared speechless; his expression rapidly changing to one of anger. “No, I’m not losing you again!”
Billy looked down at his father, knowing exactly how he felt. He sat down beside him and put his hand on his father’s shoulder. “I don’t want to go, but it’s something I have to do. This is why I had to come here.” His voice was soft, and his eyes pleading for Preston to understand.
“But…” was all his father could say, the words failing him and his gaze drifting to the ground.
Suddenly, a voice came out of a communication link. “Dr. Thorn, an important message from Command, sir.”
Preston gazed tiredly at the link and rubbed his forehead. “Please, tell them that I’ll contact them later.”
The voice hesitated before continuing, “But sir…it’s him.”
Billy wondered at the peculiar way, the voice said him. His curiosity was further aroused at his father’s reaction to this statement. Preston’s head shot up, and he looked immediately in Billy’s direction.
“Quickly, behind the device unit,” his father commanded in a harsh whisper.
Billy ran and hid behind the large black tank that hooked up to the Device. Almost instantly, the silver paneling on the wall vanished, only to reveal a man in a black uniform.
“Well, Preston,” stated the man brusquely. Billy couldn’t figure out if that was a greeting or a question.
Billy peeked from his hiding place. As he stared at the man on the screen, Billy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The stranger wore a black shiny uniform. Nothing adorned it, but a silver symbol covering the upper right side of his chest. It was a circle, surrounding another, with a solid triangle in the center.
“Hello, General Shank. It’s been a long time.” Preston was trying to control his voice, but Billy could hear the fear behind his words.
Who was this man? A general? Who did his father work for? The military? Billy returned his gaze to the chilling man on the screen. Was he a part of this Inner Circle he heard Herald mention?
“You know, Preston; I do like to be kept in the loop. But I’ve been hearing that your laboratory isn’t sharing everything with their superiors.” The stranger’s voice was deceivingly calm; only his hard ice blue eyes revealed any emotion.
An expression of confusion replaced the one of fear on Preston’s face. “What are you talking about, General?”
“Don’t play me for a fool, Preston!” the General spat into the screen. “Did you actually think that we would not hear about your unexpected guests? Did you actually think that all communication ends with you?” The General smiled as he stared at Preston with hooded eyes.
“I assure you, The Inner Circle always know what’s going on. Is it true? He is your son?”
Preston’s eyes widened with surprise at the man’s words. “Yes, but-”
“Interesting. We’ve been waiting for something like this for some time,” the General mused.
“What are you talking about? How do you know what happened to Billy?” Preston angrily demanded.
The General laughed softly. “I told you, we always know what’s going on. You are working on the greatest project in human history. Did you really think we wouldn’t know of every occurrence involving it?”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“Quite frankly, the incident with your son worked in our favor. Your dedication to the Sphere became unparalleled and you brought us years ahead of schedule.”
Preston gazed at the man with a look of horror.
“Oh, Preston, please! We’ve given you everything you wanted. Unlimited access to the Time Sphere. Unlimited funds at your desposal. And now, you have what you always wanted, to see your son again,” said the General, his voice almost kind.
Preston began to shake his head. “General, there has been new information. It seems that the Sphere may cause some kind of problems in the fut-”
“We don’t care, Preston. You have one job and we suggest you do it. I think you need to remember who’s in charge here. You may be the one giving orders down there, but don’t forget who you answer to.” The General’s expression was once again closed and glacial.
The man was about to end communication, only to stop and turn to once again look at Preston. A slight smile was upon his lips as he said, “By the way, I would like to meet this son of yours. Billy is it?” he asked in a casual manner. “Yes, I’ll be coming to the lab to make sure that everything is going according to plan. While I’m there, I’d like to meet your Billy and his companion too, of course, the old man. Yes, I’m very interested. So please, Preston, ensure the boy is there when I arrive. That isn’t a request.” The General finished with a tone that said he was not to be disobeyed.
As abruptly as the man came on the screen, he left. Preston just stood still in the middle of the lab. Billy slowly emerged from his hiding spot, his eyes still on the silver panels where the General had been not seconds before.
Billy knew that something was wrong.
“Dad?”
Preston turned to face his son. His brow was furrowed and he didn’t meet his son’s curious gaze. He just rubbed his cheek and his eyes were wide with fear.
“Something’s not right. I rarely receive direct communication with a member of the Inner Circle. Why the concern over the project? Development is good, we’re on schedule.” Preston turned to stare at Billy. “Why the interest in you and the old man? How do they know about what happened to you and where you came from? It’s like they knew you would come back,” Preston stated with a mystified expression on his face.
Billy watched as his father began to pace about the room. All he could do was stare at him while trying to get a handle on his own feelings of dread.
“What’s going on, Dad? Who was that guy? And what’s the Inner Circle?” he asked, his faced filled with alarm.
Preston stopped pacing, placed his hands in his pocket and let out a long breath. “They are, well, ultimately my superiors on the project.”
“Who? The military? This General must be military, but this ‘Inner Circle’ sounds like a secret club or something?”
“Not many know about the Circle and its position of power in our government. I only know the little I do due to my position in the Sphere Project. From what I know, they’re the ones who make the real decisions high in our government. You have to understand, Billy, the world is no longer the democratic place you left. The world is in crisis and quick decisions had to be made. These decisions are made by a ruling minority and the population no longer has any political rights to agree or disagree with them. But we’ve survived as long as we have because of the Circle.”
Preston ran his fingers through his hair, his expression displaying his growing fear. “I’ve always supported them. It’s always been implied that our situation is temporary and our political rights would be returned to us once we found a solution to earth’s problems. I believed we found our solution with the Sphere.”
Preston turned to face Billy and gazed at him for a long moment. A tenderness warmed his eyes and he said, “Before you were born, I was totally devoted to my work. I was go
ing to use science to change things; make the world a better place. Your mother,” he said as his eyes glowed, “she understood that and supported me in every way.”
The joyful radiance began to fade as he continued. “But then you were taken. I threw myself into my work in order to forget, and then I lost your mother and the pain was more than I could bear. Nothing existed but the Time Sphere and what it was going to mean to mankind. All my energy went into this endeavor, until I had nothing more to give to anything else. But, I suppose that was the point.”
Preston looked out into space and didn’t speak. He turned to look at Billy, the love he had for his son shining in his eyes. “When I lost you I was devastated and my work was only a shallow replacement. I see that now.”
He closed his eyes in regret and continued in a voice thick with emotion, “I was blinded to what was going on around me. All I could see was fulfilling my goal. I thought I was doing the right thing. It’s one of the reasons I dedicated my life to the Project. It meant freedom, the freedom to make choices for ourselves. I never had cause to worry about the Circle before. I thought their agenda was the same as mine.”
Billy couldn’t imagine how he ever had envisioned his father as the evil mastermind to Earth’s downfall. All he saw before him was a good man. But a man devastated by the knowledge of the mistakes he had made because of his blindness.
Billy placed a gentle hand on his father’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “Dad, I learned about a guy named Adolf Hitler from World War II. He did the same thing; made everybody believe that he was going to fix all their problems. But when you give someone total control, they can’t help but do things the way they think things should be done. If I’ve learned anything from the people I’ve met because of the Sphere, it’s that you need to be accountable to others and willing to listen and learn new ideas or everything becomes about you. Your wants and needs. What if this Circle’s plan doesn’t have anything to do with the people of Earth anymore?”
Billy watched as the look of anguish slowly left his father’s eyes and was replaced with one of fear, a fear that only comes with a dreadful and sure realization.
Preston placed his hands on a nearby table, grasping the edges so tightly his knuckles turned white. Suddenly he lifted his head and stared hard into his sons eyes. “Billy, listen to me!” Preston urgently demanded. “You were right, you need to take the Device and return to your own time!” Preston put his hands on Billy’s shoulders. “Just to be safe, we need to get you out of here. You have to leave, Billy, as soon as possible.”
Once again, Billy felt the fear of the unknown. But this time, it wasn’t a danger coming from millions of miles away, but right here on Earth. Billy felt in his bones that although taking the Sphere would change the devastation of the distant future, it would also create a new tangent in the time stream. A tangent involving a new adversary. One wearing a black uniform and who was as human as he.
Something was unfolding and he knew that his part in this adventure was far from over. The beings were now never going to invade earth, but Billy knew in his soul that the General was a far worse opponent. The General frightened Billy to his core.
The only thing he could do at that moment was ensure the safety of the Device. Everything up until that point had happened for a reason, so why shouldn’t his arrival in the future be any different? For whatever reason, this was the life he was given, for better or for worse. Billy couldn’t whine and complain anymore about the part he was to play in the events unfolding. He just needed to be ready to do what needed to be done when he was called to do it.
Billy looked hard into his father’s eyes and with a curt nod of his head, he said, “I’ll get the others.”
Chapter 41
Billy ran through the corridors in the direction of the lab’s personal quarters. Time was of the essence and he needed to get to Jeanie and Dickens right away. He silently cursed himself for ignoring them all of this time and now he had no idea where they had been spending their time. He checked both of their dorms, but they were nowhere to be found.
Just then, he heard running footsteps coming from behind. He turned to see his father hurrying toward him.
Preston’s face was etched with worry lines. “Have you found them?” he urgently asked.
Billy shook his head. “No, they’re not here. I don’t know where they are. How much time do you think we have before the General gets here?”
“I don’t know. It could be this minute or next week. I have no idea what he’s planning. Here, I’ll call them on the com link.” Preston attempted to contact Jeanie and Dickens multiple times, yet their lines were dead.
“I don’t understand why no one is answering their link! Something’s wrong!” Preston again pressed the metallic button pinned to his jacket. “Herald!”
Herald promptly answered the call. “Yes, Doctor?”
“Have you seen Jeanie and the old man anywhere?”
“They’re with Conrad in the Brain Room. Why?”
“We may have a problem, Herald. The Inner Circle may be coming here and most likely sooner rather than later.”
“So? The way they’ve been so intrusive lately, I’m not really surprised.”
Preston closed his eyes and hesitated before continuing. “Things are not as they seem, Herald. I’m starting to see how things really are, and I think the General knows it.”
“What are y-”
“I’ll fill you in later,” he said as he hit the button again, ending communication.
Preston looked at Billy and shook his head. “That still doesn’t explain why transmission is down on their links.”
Billy instinctively knew that something was very wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. “We need to find them. Now!” Billy said with fear in his voice, as began to race toward the Special Projects Sector.
As he ran through the corridors, with his father at his side, Billy was vaguely aware that the halls were empty of the usual scientists walking about. The lab was always a frenzy of activity, but now there was only an eerie silence and their steps echoed loudly throughout the hallways.
Billy finally reached the entrance to the Brain Room, and the door easily slid open. The room was dark, and his eyes were in the process of adjusting to the lack of light as he heard Conrad yell out into the darkness, “Billy, Dr. Thorn! No!”
That was when Billy saw the shapes illuminated by the jars lining the walls, standing across the room. He could only stare as his brain tried to frantically process the scene before him. There were three uniformed security guards standing behind Jeanie and Dickens, pointing some type of weapon at their backs.
Billy quickly found Jeanie’s face. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her eyes wide with fear. Dickens expression, however, was unreadable.
Just then, movement caught Billy’s eye. He stood there in shock as a white cloaked figure stepped out from behind the guards. Billy’s eyes widened, as Herald came to stand before them, a smile on his face.
Herald was helping the Inner Circle? Herald was allowing someone to point a gun at Jeanie’s back? He may be a jerk sometimes, but Billy would never have thought he was one of the bad guys.
Preston immediately stepped toward his second in command. “Herald, what is the meaning of this?” he yelled.
The smirk that Billy had come to know so well took shape on Herald’s face. “You may have difficulty appreciating this, Doctor, but some of us understand the chain of command and our duty to our superiors.”
“I am your superior,” Preston said in a firm voice of authority that Billy had never heard him use before.
“You’re technically correct. However, you’ve not been acting in the best interest of the Project…Sir,” Herald said with a sly smile.
“How dare you-” Preston growled and stepped forward.
Billy couldn’t believe it as he watched Herald pull a weapon, similar to that of the guards, out of his
coat and point it at his father.
“Stop right there, Preston. This is about the survival of humanity, not your own personal soap opera. You’ve lost sight of what’s truly important and I intend to rectify that oversight immediately.”
“How? Allowing people to get hurt? You know the Circle will stop at nothing. They’ve ordered you to point deadly weapons at children and an old man, for heaven’s sake.”
“A few to save many; billions actually. I personally think that the math makes sense.” Herald casually replied.
“How can you serve an organization that will sacrifice lives to serve its purpose? What do you think we’re doing down here? What is the Sphere Project all about? We’re trying to save lives, Herald!”
“The General has told me that the boy and the old man are detrimental to the Project. Nothing can prevent the completion of the gate, you know this. I’m sorry that it’s at the expense of others, but it can’t be helped.”
“When did you speak with the General?”
“I’ve always been in contact with him, Preston. How do you think the General knew you were keeping secrets? Who do you think told him about your son, what happened to him. I know you swore me to secrecy, but I had to follow orders. I told General Shank everything. Somehow he knew the boy would return and I was to contact him immediately when he did.”
Billy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So, when we got here, you knew who I was and you still tortured us for days,” he bellowed at the man before him.
Herald just rolled his eyes. “Oh, please, the rings are nothing of note, just a little discomfort. What I was doing was gleaning your small minds for information. You were very helpful, by the way, so thank you,” he smiled before adding, “and what can I say? I’m a very talented actor.”
Billy drew in a deep breath and clenched his jaw. He ran at Herald, but his father grabbed him in time. He struggled to free himself as he screamed, “You piece of garbage!” He turned to his father and yelled, “Let go of me!”