“Not going to happen, sonny. I am not in the mood.”
Rachel reached for the seatbelt release, but it would not uncouple. She yanked repeatedly.
“What the hell! Let me go you bastard!”
“Ma’am, just relax. No one is going to harm you.”
The plane taxied to a private hanger and stopped. Rachel was steaming, by the time the Captain entered. He sat in the chair opposite her.
“Mrs. Sheldon, I am Captain Michael Blake. I am sorry for the inconvenience; but, as you can imagine, in this case, I cannot have you wreaking havoc throughout my airplane. Now, if you calm down, we can talk civilly. How does that sound?”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and appeared quiet and subdued.
“All right, Mr. Blake; may I ask why we are in Rio?”
“I was paid to bring you here.”
As the Captain finished his sentence, the entry door at the front of the cabin opened; and, a short, trim East Indian man walked in and over, behind the Captain.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Sheldon. I’ll take it from here, Captain.
As Blake got up and walked out of the plane, he tipped his hand to Rachel. “Nice meeting you Ma’am.”
Rachel looked at the small man in front of her with a distain.
“So, can you tell me what is going on?”
“Actually, yes I can. I am Rash InVoy; how do you do?”
“I do very well, when I’m not tied up or kidnapped, thank you.”
“I do apologize for this, Mrs. Sheldon. It was necessary; believe me.”
“I don’t believe anything you say.”
“Well, perhaps this will help…”
InVoy undid her seat buckle and offered, “There; if you would like to leave; be my guest…”
Rachel got up and started walking to the door.
“Mrs. Sheldon; have you ever been to this side of Rio before? I find it most secure, if you like the gangland elements. Please; either leave; or stay, and learn why we brought you here. I doubt your Mr. Rosse is going to miss you.”
At that point, another man walked in through the door.
“Hellos Mrs. Sheldon, we haven’t formally met,” he said with a smile. “I am Charlie Rosse.”
As he extended his hand to shake, Rachel went back to her seat and sat in silent shock.
“Ok, fellas; what the hell is this?”
Rosse sat, put his briefcase on the table and took out a thick, bound manuscript and handed it to her. She picked it up and opened the cover. InVoy stood up and waved Rosse away.
“Do you know what that is, Mrs. Sheldon?”
“It looks like my husband’s manuscript on ‘particle displacements’…You bastards!”
“Good guess; but, not quite; your husband is quite the clever man, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at the date; there, on the second page.”
“2102…What is this?”
“That’s a copy of the original Sidron papers. Now look at this.”
InVoy took another manuscript out of his own briefcase.
“Open it.”
Rachel did, and gasped. She took the other book and set them side to side and began opening the pages in sink.
“Christ! Where did you get these?”
“It’s a long story, believe me. I work for Marion Brock, Mrs. Sheldon. Not Gordon Swanson, or your Ever-Life monsters. We have been working to recover those papers for decades, ever since they surfaced in 2855.”
“That’s 144 years?”
“Yes, the Brock family owns them.”
“What do you mean? My husband wrote this!”
“No, he didn’t. When Mr. Brock and your husband partnered to develop C.P.T., Mr. Brock showed Jack his files on the Sidron. Your husband; being as brilliant as he is; wanted Mr. Brock’s notes and the Sidron papers, to confirm and study his discovery, C.P.T., Mr. Brock negotiated a long term contract to bind the C.P.T. effort, along with his own interests. The plan was to compare the complete historical records of Sidron, with testing the C.P.T. formulation. But the catalyst bath was the challenge. We couldn’t test anything without preserving the formulation in the bath.”
“So you tried to steal it, with clones and murder.”
InVoy smiled and replied confidently, “Not really. It was your husband, who figured, the more clones, the more formulas. Your Gordon Swanson made a deal, to get the very same thing, from your husband. The only difference is; if he failed, his precious colonies would not burn up in hell. If we failed, Brock would be stopped. What would you do?”
“Screw you!”
Rachel stood up, and an armed guard appeared from the flight attendant’s cubical. InVoy grinned and gestured to her.
“Please Doctor, sit down?”
“Where did you get my husband’s papers?”
“He gave them to us, after stealing the original notes. You notice; the original document is incomplete.”
Rachel opened it to the back, “What happened, where are they?”
“Precisely…And so; you are here.”
“You think Jack has the missing pages?”
“Mrs. Sheldon, we know he does. We gave them to him. You see, he was supposed to return them; but, he never did. He broke all agreements; and now we are compelled to recover the papers.”
“So, you broke into our home…?”
Rachel sat back in shock for a moment. She glanced out the window, with a tear; and then, she took a deep breath and wiped her eye.
“Christ; you almost had me. For just a second, you almost had me…Bullshit! Mr. whatever your name is. You think you can brainwash me, and blackmail my husband? Never, you bastard!”
“Does it really matter what the truth is, Doctor? You know it’s what you believe that counts.” InVoy snickered. “And, in fact, it is what you perceive, from your point of view, really; isn’t it?”
“You are a very bad man.”
“Well, that may be your point of view; but, it doesn’t concern us here, now does it? You are going to be leverage; my bait, to get those notes. I was hoping you would cooperate.”
“Not on my life.”
“Exactly, Mrs. Sheldon; it will happen or you will have no life. Guards, take her away.”
“This isn’t going to work; you little shit.”
Two guards grabbed and forced her up by her shoulders, down the isle.
“You little weasel, why don’t you fight like a man? Let go of me, you assholes!”
InVoy stuffed a cloth into her mouth and instructed the guards. Then, he called Marion Brock. He had no idea he was really calling a clone.
“Brock here.”
“Sir, InVoy here; we have the wife.”
“Well, get on with it…Have Rosse contact Jack Sheldon. We will have a nice reception waiting. Don’t screw this one up.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chapter 20
Giza
Allenfar began his ascent from Earth’s fiery ocean, up to the Great Pyramid of Giza.
“We will be docking at the subterranean chamber, Sir.”
“Can you get me closer to the Grand Gallery?”
Allenfar slowly rose to the exact point where the ascending passage meets the Grand gallery. Bellos and Wheeler walked out, into the dimly lit hallway. Wheeler looked around in awe at the rock walls, “Quite claustrophobic, isn’t it Mathew?”
“Nothing like the spacious feeling in the colonies; that’s for sure.”
“Maybe it’s just that we are used to the dark; but, I see something that reflects…And why are we here?”
“One step at a time, Thom….”
Bellos took out his Knofer, tapped it, laid it on the floor and spoke, “Detail rendering and analysis of limestone values and impulse readings, please.”
“What’s the plan?”
A triangular scale model of the pyramid grew out from the Knofer.
“Examine the rock walls and apex, both. Then, compare readings with part
icle displacements or Sidron events. Check findings and compare with all pyramids, around the globe.”
“You think there is a power base here, to run a particle displacement test?”
“In ancient, ancient times, all the major pyramids around the world; were linked. We know they had common building materials, and some were conductive. Some historians recorded electrical impulses, at many of the sites. Many wrote they were battery capable…”
“A world network of power?”
“Exactly; altogether, a global output and input of energy…Perhaps controllable, in some way…If Brock has found a way to harness, or focus that energy; how much power would that be; and, could it generate a frequency field, big enough to trigger the Sidron?”
For several minutes, Wheeler witnessed a strange inquisitive look on the GGM’s face, as he input from the Knofer. Bellos looked up, and then at Thom.
“This isn’t a time bomb, at all. Even, after these thousands of years, it’s more powerful than anything we imagined.”
“Well, don’t keep me waiting?”
“Its combined focus ‘is’ sensitive to the Sidron. This has to be their power source. They network it, from Time Travel Inc. What a brilliant plan. Who is going to check the pyramids; and who would consider destroying any of them?”
Bellos turned to the Knofer’s model and spoke to it in the Carrier’s voice, “Display Sidron frequency echoes, within the last twenty-four hours.”
The hologram reset and displayed five pulsing star-lights. Each radiated spheres of frequency waves outward from a point to the boundary of the model.
“Mathew, are those locations of the Sidron events?”
“They are the echoes, a record. This is the archive of the exact positions and moments.”
“Why would they be in here, of all places?”
“The apex of this pyramid received the displacement signal from the event; and then, it projected the particles to Time Trust below, for a reason. The ancients, who lived here, had many secrets, yet to be uncovered, even in our time. They didn’t define things as we do. They used their knowledge, in many ways, beyond what we do.”
“So, our ‘visitors’, in Time Trust now, were transported via the Sidron through the apex up there, down to us?”
“I am sure of it. This pyramid is, somehow, the hour glass of his displacements. The 3 travelers were zapped from their time, to ours; copied by the Sidron. We always thought the Carriers were the hourglass of time. It looks like Brock has found a different way, or a combination, of sorts…Thom, look; one of the lights, that star; it’s fading. I need to question our visitors.”
“Mathew, look over there; a new one just appeared. There were five stars. Now there are six?”
“If each is tied to an event; five stars, five events.”
“That means another one just happened?”
“Yes; let’s go…”
Bellos spoke to his Knofer, “Transmit all data and findings to Jake Burns, stat!”
The two ran back to Allenfar; and, once inside, Bellos spoke quickly, “Take us Time Trust security area 36, of Post 2…
…Thom, search the vaults and the headset files. Check everything you can think of. There has to be something; a clue to tell us what happened to our first young visitor. Search anything related to Sidron, Brock, or his ancestors.
“Yes Sir. But why haven’t we heard of another event.”
“I don’t know. I am going to see our friend, in room eight.”
“Are you interviewing both of him-them?”
“That is the plan, but the younger first. Let me know anything you find.”
“I will. It may take time.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have that.”
It took Allenfar only a few minutes to dock at Time Trust. The two men exited, each going in a different direction.
Although room eight was bathed in white light, it was pleasing to the eye and quite comfortable for the forty year old visitor, who sat watching the wall, broadcast 3D video and audio. As he clicked the small remote, which Wheeler gave to him during their meeting early that morning, the displays varied either 2D or 3D, depending on the channel. He studied how different life seemed, there, below the surface. He was able to see many things; any colony’s urban area; people going about their daily lives; educational channels; exotic agricultural industries and unusual entertainment. The huge caverns on the screen were far from dark and dank. At first glance, the urban centers, jetting out from the sides of the caverns, looked like paintings on cave walls; but, as one got closer, they stuck out apart, constructed upward from the cavern walls. The man marveled at the bubble Carriers racing high across magnificent spacious caves, reminding him of airplanes and helicopters on the surface. However, unlike them, these were transparent and round, carrying passengers to and fro in any direction. On one channel, appeared historical information regarding Ever-Life and its origins. He had been watching since 4:00 a.m.; and, of all that he saw, he seemed to concentrate on the cooking and healthcare. Every channel had advertisements, shows about better living, through the Ever-Life foods and genetic medicine.
It was early the prior morning when the Sidron event occurred, which brought him from his time in 1989 to Post Two’s facility. Three human copies of the same man transported to Time Trust; each a different age. Unfortunately, the youngest of the three already vanished, and there was no way of telling if, or when, the other two might also. For many hours now, the 43 year old man sat, trying not to upset himself with the stress of where he was. Finally, the room door opened, and GGM Mathew Bellos walk in. The man got up and looked with professional kindness at Bellos, who immediately extended his hand.
“Hello, I am Mathew Bellos.”
“I am Andrew; frankly I’m not sure what to say…” The man shook Bellos’s hand cautiously. “…Nice place; clean, and very white; different; but interesting.”
“That, it is. Please, be as comfortable as you can.”
“What happened to the other guy, Wheeler, who was here before?”
“I’m sure you have many questions, and I would spend time answering them all, if we had time; but, we don’t. I assure you I have no hostile intent. I know you must be uneasy…”
“Uneasy…That is the understatement of the day.”
“The best thing, I can do, is tell you everything in an instant.” Bellos grinned. “This is very unusual for both of us. I ask that you trust me, even though there is no reason to.”
“I don’t see a choice. I’m, obviously, a prisoner.”
Bellos walked around the man, over to the wall and a small door appeared at his shoulder height. He took out a head set and turned around.
“This will give you some perspective and answers. It’s a brief program. You open the clip, like this; fit it on your ear, comfortably; like this; then, just sit for a moment. It won’t hurt.”
The man took the set and studied it.
“Is this some audio device; no wires?”
“Not exactly; but it won’t hurt.”
The man clipped the device on his ear, and Bellos said, “You might want to sit down.”
The man went to the lounge. Bellos took, what looked like, a small 3-inch by 1/2inch remote, out of his pocket and handed it to the man.
“This is similar to what your Mr. Wheeler showed me. You want me to trust you?”
Bellos pointed and said, “You see the red dot there; push it and then try to relax.”
“Right…”
The man laid his head back on the lounge and pushed. Within seconds he reacted, “Oh Christ!”
Then he shut up and gripped the chair’s arms, squeezing tightly. Involuntarily, he closed his eyes.
Bellos sat in the chair, beside the lounge, quietly waiting. After only a moment, the man opened his eyes widely, and stared at the GGM. Bellos raised his hand gesturing for him not to speak.
“Just push the dot again, and remove the earpiece, before you say anything.”
The man
did so, and blinked several times, as though clearing his mind. He looked at Bellos, as if there was something familiar.
“You know, I remember doing that before, in college, a long time ago. Odd, but it was more like a dream, then. Did I; I mean, did I dream it?”
“No; in fact, you did meet Jake Burns, from here on three other occasions, in your life; but the other two are yet to come. I believe that is why you were involved in the particle displacement, today.”
“Particle displacement? Considering I have been stuck in this room, with a wall size 3D TV; what I just saw is hard to fathom, much less particle displacement.”
“I know; but, it’s all true.”
“So, this Sidron is the highway of knowledge and power, and somebody used it to; for what?”
“For his own benefit; to capture power and change what is, or has been, to what he wants it to be.”
“What year is it, exactly?”
“It is our year 9999.96. By your calendar, June is the month and the year is 2999.6
The man sighed with a serious look, “It’s mind blowing; that I am still back there, with my life going on; and, at the same time, here. I have a hard time believing I am really, in fact, dead.”
Then he looked at Bellos eye to eye, “Can or will I go back?”
“I’m not sure. Nobody has answers. We believe that Time travel cannot change a timeline, of someone who died; so, even if you did, what you know now will make no difference.”
Bellos could feel his Knofer vibrate. As he took it out, he smiled at the man and heard Wheeler.
“Sir; are you there?”
“Yes Thom.”
“Sir, we have activity on the equipment; intense, immeasurable.”
Bellos looked, wide eyed at Andrew. He began to flicker, like the first visitor. He reached for Bellos; but, before either one could touch the other, the man was gone, disappeared. Bellos stood alone, in the room and replied to Wheeler, “Yes Tom, I know. You better get me those readings right away.”
“What happened, Sir?”
“Just give them to me.”
Bellos sat in the lounge and waited only a few minutes. Wheeler came through the door and said, “Done Sir; it’s on your Knofer.”
Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust Page 36