Read Online Ancient Fire by Mark London Williams - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mark London Williams
Tags: science, adventure, TimeTravel, Baseball, ancient Egypt, Dinosaurs, middle grade, future adventure, father and son, ages 9 to 13
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thing is printed on paper. “We’ve read
it,” Howe added. “It didn’t answer any of our questions.”
“Look at this.” Now it’s Thirty’s turn again.
On the wall screen, a group of airline passengers stand around a
busy airport terminal, looking confused and worried like they could
all use a nap.
“This just happened yesterday,” she says. “A
flight from L.A. to New York. It’s supposed to take three and a
half hours, nonstop.”
“Yeah?”
“According to everybody’s watches, and every
clock we could check, and every way we could measure…it took
fifteen minutes.”
“What?”
“That’s right. They left Los Angeles, and
before they had time to finish hearing about the inflatable life
rafts in case of emergency, they were over Manhattan. This one
we’ve kept out of the news. For now. The crew and passengers are
still being debriefed in a hotel.”
“They get a hotel? And I’m stuck in a
tunnel?” No one’s laughing, and I’m not sure I meant it as a joke.
“So what does ‘debriefed’ mean?”
“It means held against their will.” That was
a new voice. Dad’s.
He’s come in the room and is standing in the
back. “Daddy!”
I haven’t called him that in about five
years. Since around the time I stopped watching Disney movies.
I can feel my cheeks get a little red, then
he walks up and hugs me and I don’t care…except he’s wearing latex
gloves, so it feels a little funny.
“I’m sorry, buddy, but I came down here late
last night. Mr. Howe told you this morning, right?”
“No.”
We both try to glare at Mr. Howe, but he just
won’t feel embarrassed about anything. “I wasn’t sure you’d be
finished,” he claimed. “I didn’t want to promise the boy he’d see
you if you weren’t going to be here. I didn’t want to upset
him.”
There are times when Mr. Howe makes me want
to barf.
“You should have told me you were leaving,
Dad.” I let go of him so I can stand back and look him in the
eyes.
“Eli, we discovered something…and I didn’t
want to get your hopes up too much. I was in a sealed room farther
down the tunnel. You couldn’t have come in there, anyway.”
I realize Dad is dressed in a special jump-
suit, too, like some of the DARPA guys. He doesn’t look right in
the uniform.
“What’s going on?”
Dad peels off the gloves and takes a small
vidpad out of his pocket. “We just scanned these in. Nobody can
touch it directly, of course. We had to be very careful.”
They were pages from the old San Francisco Chronicle that popped up in his lab at
the same time the baseball cap did.
“Funny things have been going on with time,
Eli.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Then I lower
my voice so only he can hear. “ Are you talking
about the motel we stopped at? ”
“No. Look.” He scans through the newspaper
pages, then stops, enlarging an article about an orchestra playing
in San Francisco back in 1937.
There’s a picture of one of the flute players
looking toward the camera. Margarite Sands. My mom.
Chapter Ten
Clyne: The Rhino and the Time-Vessel
Final Class Project: 10,271
S.E.
3. How was this culture
different from your own? Describe.
Since I’ve already described this planet as
being dominated by evolved mammals, I have, in a way, already
answered the question. What could be more unusual than that? But
you still may not believe me, and may even be thinking that when I
get home, the school nurse should immediately prescribe a volcano
cure for me to let me sweat out these bad visions. But our motto,
as Saurians, has always been “Science is deep truth,” and science
is on my side here.
Even though the truth is that everything is different, and what we thought we knew
about evolution has been turned into mush-fern stew.
For example, there are nearly as many types
of mammal species as there are Saurians! Not just the two-legged,
mostly sentient kind like Eli the Boy, or Thea, the daughter of
it,” Howe added. “It didn’t answer any of our questions.”
“Look at this.” Now it’s Thirty’s turn again.
On the wall screen, a group of airline passengers stand around a
busy airport terminal, looking confused and worried like they could
all use a nap.
“This just happened yesterday,” she says. “A
flight from L.A. to New York. It’s supposed to take three and a
half hours, nonstop.”
“Yeah?”
“According to everybody’s watches, and every
clock we could check, and every way we could measure…it took
fifteen minutes.”
“What?”
“That’s right. They left Los Angeles, and
before they had time to finish hearing about the inflatable life
rafts in case of emergency, they were over Manhattan. This one
we’ve kept out of the news. For now. The crew and passengers are
still being debriefed in a hotel.”
“They get a hotel? And I’m stuck in a
tunnel?” No one’s laughing, and I’m not sure I meant it as a joke.
“So what does ‘debriefed’ mean?”
“It means held against their will.” That was
a new voice. Dad’s.
He’s come in the room and is standing in the
back. “Daddy!”
I haven’t called him that in about five
years. Since around the time I stopped watching Disney movies.
I can feel my cheeks get a little red, then
he walks up and hugs me and I don’t care…except he’s wearing latex
gloves, so it feels a little funny.
“I’m sorry, buddy, but I came down here late
last night. Mr. Howe told you this morning, right?”
“No.”
We both try to glare at Mr. Howe, but he just
won’t feel embarrassed about anything. “I wasn’t sure you’d be
finished,” he claimed. “I didn’t want to promise the boy he’d see
you if you weren’t going to be here. I didn’t want to upset
him.”
There are times when Mr. Howe makes me want
to barf.
“You should have told me you were leaving,
Dad.” I let go of him so I can stand back and look him in the
eyes.
“Eli, we discovered something…and I didn’t
want to get your hopes up too much. I was in a sealed room farther
down the tunnel. You couldn’t have come in there, anyway.”
I realize Dad is dressed in a special jump-
suit, too, like some of the DARPA guys. He doesn’t look right in
the uniform.
“What’s going on?”
Dad peels off the gloves and takes a small
vidpad out of his pocket. “We just scanned these in. Nobody can
touch it directly, of course. We had to be very careful.”
They were pages from the old San Francisco Chronicle that popped up in his lab at
the same time the baseball cap did.
“Funny things have been going on with time,
Eli.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Then I lower
my voice so only he can hear. “ Are you talking
about the motel we stopped at? ”
“No. Look.” He scans through the newspaper
pages, then stops, enlarging an article about an orchestra playing
in San Francisco back in 1937.
There’s a picture of one of the flute players
looking toward the camera. Margarite Sands. My mom.
Chapter Ten
Clyne: The Rhino and the Time-Vessel
Final Class Project: 10,271
S.E.
3. How was this culture
different from your own? Describe.
Since I’ve already described this planet as
being dominated by evolved mammals, I have, in a way, already
answered the question. What could be more unusual than that? But
you still may not believe me, and may even be thinking that when I
get home, the school nurse should immediately prescribe a volcano
cure for me to let me sweat out these bad visions. But our motto,
as Saurians, has always been “Science is deep truth,” and science
is on my side here.
Even though the truth is that everything is different, and what we thought we knew
about evolution has been turned into mush-fern stew.
For example, there are nearly as many types
of mammal species as there are Saurians! Not just the two-legged,
mostly sentient kind like Eli the Boy, or Thea, the daughter of
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