come to shedding tears for this next victim.
But then, beyond the truck, the garage door was left open, empty of all vehicles, telling him they had left already.
He stepped through, just as the owner would after a day at work. After entering the house, he withdrew his weapon, no longer bothering with the silencer. A sound alerted him to the kitchen. It was the microwave, cooking something that was sparking inside, the display telling him there were only five minutes twelve seconds until its contents were ready. He punched the door button with his forefinger knuckle and the door squeaked open to reveal the disc of a hard drive on top of a plastic microwave dish. It was warm, but otherwise salvageable. His handlers might not be entirely upset with his work after all.
~~~
“Where are we going?” his wife asked, as Monty tossed the bubble mailer into the mail drop.
“To our cabin in Arizona.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, and you can’t tell anyone that we’re there.”
“Fine. How long will we be there?”
Monty looked at his phone’s calendar, did the math and said, “Ten months, sixteen days.”
She shifted the cat-carrier from her lap to the back seat. Faraday was already asleep, as if he knew it would be a long drive. “Then what?”
“We’re driving with Dr. Ron’s wife Betsy and his brother-in-law Peter to a place in Colorado called Cicada.”
Chapter 26
In The Future
The sun stood over him like a big bully in a schoolyard, having its way with him and those who were foolish enough to venture outside. Even though fall was supposedly just around the corner, there appeared to be no end to this sweltering heat.
Dr. Ron tied a bandana around his head to protect it against the sun’s punishing rays, secured his satchel of supplies around his shoulder and peddled back to his own laboratory. His peddling was methodical but unenthusiastic. He knew where Dr. Mendelson was now—at least where he was headed—but Colorado was a long way away on a bicycle. Even if he could make it in this harsh environment, how would he find this man, get the cure and get back in time for the one or two probes Monty might be able to send? No, his mission was a failure. He would at least tell his friend what he could expect in the present-day world, coming for them in less than a year. He would ask him to try and send another probe or two, but suspected he would be prevented by others from doing so: Monty would be lucky to stay out of jail after getting just one probe back through the time slip right after him.
He kept thinking about his decision to come here and leave Betsy.
The heat sucked up his energy and made his mind wander back to the same memory. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was something else…
It was their 20 th anniversary dinner, at Betsy’s favorite restaurant, The Saltgrass Steak House. They were sipping their glasses of Cabernet when he told her his concerns about their current work.
“I’ve come to a decision,” he said tentatively, as he watched her delight in the taste of her wine.
“What’s that, Doctor?” She always referred to Ron this way when he made a serious proclamation.
He grinned at her playfulness and relished how she looked at him, with joyful love and seriousness all at once. “I’m afraid of where we’ve gone with our research. We know that we can generate an almost unlimited amount of gamma radiation with minimal power usage. But what we hadn’t considered are the implications. If this technology were to get into the wrong hands, imagine what could happen.” He paused to take a sip of his own wine.
“Someone could create a big green Hulk that would smash everyone in sight, right?” She beamed at him.
He had told her his concerns about the release of too much gamma radiation—the output of the technology they had created— and what it might do to the earth’s magnetic fields. He had reminded her about his ideas to generate clean power using the same technology,
But then, beyond the truck, the garage door was left open, empty of all vehicles, telling him they had left already.
He stepped through, just as the owner would after a day at work. After entering the house, he withdrew his weapon, no longer bothering with the silencer. A sound alerted him to the kitchen. It was the microwave, cooking something that was sparking inside, the display telling him there were only five minutes twelve seconds until its contents were ready. He punched the door button with his forefinger knuckle and the door squeaked open to reveal the disc of a hard drive on top of a plastic microwave dish. It was warm, but otherwise salvageable. His handlers might not be entirely upset with his work after all.
~~~
“Where are we going?” his wife asked, as Monty tossed the bubble mailer into the mail drop.
“To our cabin in Arizona.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, and you can’t tell anyone that we’re there.”
“Fine. How long will we be there?”
Monty looked at his phone’s calendar, did the math and said, “Ten months, sixteen days.”
She shifted the cat-carrier from her lap to the back seat. Faraday was already asleep, as if he knew it would be a long drive. “Then what?”
“We’re driving with Dr. Ron’s wife Betsy and his brother-in-law Peter to a place in Colorado called Cicada.”
Chapter 26
In The Future
The sun stood over him like a big bully in a schoolyard, having its way with him and those who were foolish enough to venture outside. Even though fall was supposedly just around the corner, there appeared to be no end to this sweltering heat.
Dr. Ron tied a bandana around his head to protect it against the sun’s punishing rays, secured his satchel of supplies around his shoulder and peddled back to his own laboratory. His peddling was methodical but unenthusiastic. He knew where Dr. Mendelson was now—at least where he was headed—but Colorado was a long way away on a bicycle. Even if he could make it in this harsh environment, how would he find this man, get the cure and get back in time for the one or two probes Monty might be able to send? No, his mission was a failure. He would at least tell his friend what he could expect in the present-day world, coming for them in less than a year. He would ask him to try and send another probe or two, but suspected he would be prevented by others from doing so: Monty would be lucky to stay out of jail after getting just one probe back through the time slip right after him.
He kept thinking about his decision to come here and leave Betsy.
The heat sucked up his energy and made his mind wander back to the same memory. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was something else…
It was their 20 th anniversary dinner, at Betsy’s favorite restaurant, The Saltgrass Steak House. They were sipping their glasses of Cabernet when he told her his concerns about their current work.
“I’ve come to a decision,” he said tentatively, as he watched her delight in the taste of her wine.
“What’s that, Doctor?” She always referred to Ron this way when he made a serious proclamation.
He grinned at her playfulness and relished how she looked at him, with joyful love and seriousness all at once. “I’m afraid of where we’ve gone with our research. We know that we can generate an almost unlimited amount of gamma radiation with minimal power usage. But what we hadn’t considered are the implications. If this technology were to get into the wrong hands, imagine what could happen.” He paused to take a sip of his own wine.
“Someone could create a big green Hulk that would smash everyone in sight, right?” She beamed at him.
He had told her his concerns about the release of too much gamma radiation—the output of the technology they had created— and what it might do to the earth’s magnetic fields. He had reminded her about his ideas to generate clean power using the same technology,
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