and he had already received an agreement from their backers. She had agreed and they toasted some more.
That night, they had talked about his plans to create the same collider that sent him through time. If she hadn’t supported it, he wouldn’t have traveled through time to save her, and failed. It was her agreement, and the fact that his old lab had been burgled and vandalized that same evening: all his computer equipment and all his research notes were stolen…
Ron almost drove past his building, his mind hanging onto something that escaped him.
He pulled up to the lab and rested his bike on the ground before going in. Once inside, he stopped at the railing and looked out over the giant laboratory, wrecked from an explosion and scarred by fire. He wondered if a time slip would ever be created again in his lifetime, or the next.
Then he noticed it, right past the middle of the two accelerator tubes. It looked like a propped up white board, with writing on it.
He trotted down the stairs and then to the back of the lab, coming to a stop in front of the white board. He had planned on using it to write his own message. And yet there it was, a message already written on it. The first words stunned him. He fell to his knees, as if his legs could no longer bear his weight. His face quivered, his eyes filled with tears and he gulped a breath of air and held it. Finally, he finished reading the words and cried tears of joy. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves and reread the message once more, to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. It was definite.
He looked upward, closed his eyes and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” He hopped up, as nimble as a sixteen-year-old, and his mind turned over what items would go on his next shopping list. He was about to bike hundreds of miles, to someplace in Colorado. And although he would be tired, he would find the energy. He was going to go see his wife again.
Chapter 27
June 27th
After ten months and seventeen days of hiding, their wait was at an end.
Monty drove past the sign in the middle of the road announcing, “Welcome to Cicada” and pulled up to the large gate. Sounds of their anxiety filled the cab of Monty’s Explorer.
Until today, they had spent untold hours discussing their plans after getting the message from the future. “What do you do with this foreknowledge?” was their greatest debate. “How do you sit on something that may save millions, but might cause harm to those who delivered the message to them?” was another biggie. In the end, Monty was the most persuasive and they agreed on the plan, to wait until this day and then drive here.
The waiting was the hardest, the long days spent in solitude in the Arizona White Mountains, while the world went about their daily activities. It allowed their minds to harbor doubt, and that laid waste to their surety of purpose. By the time this day rolled around, they all questioned the reality of the message, in spite of all they witnessed: the retelling and presentation of the data Monty saved was convincing, but above all, it was Betsy’s miraculous turnaround. And yet, the waiting ate at their resolve and all wondered, Would the Event really come on June 28th? But yesterday evening’s very abnormal auroral light show seemed to confirm its probability. Would this place they were going to go to even exist ? And yet, here they were, parked in front of Cicada.
The gates creaked open and the vehicle’s occupants watched in anticipation of what would come next.
~~~
They were all seated around a giant cherry conference table, in sumptuous leather chairs on rollers, more like being in the board room of some giant Fortune 500 company than the conference room of a remote research facility.
“So, Dr. Montgomery, why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me why you are here,” asked Preston with a tone that was more command than query. He was the head of the facility and the man they had been told to seek
That night, they had talked about his plans to create the same collider that sent him through time. If she hadn’t supported it, he wouldn’t have traveled through time to save her, and failed. It was her agreement, and the fact that his old lab had been burgled and vandalized that same evening: all his computer equipment and all his research notes were stolen…
Ron almost drove past his building, his mind hanging onto something that escaped him.
He pulled up to the lab and rested his bike on the ground before going in. Once inside, he stopped at the railing and looked out over the giant laboratory, wrecked from an explosion and scarred by fire. He wondered if a time slip would ever be created again in his lifetime, or the next.
Then he noticed it, right past the middle of the two accelerator tubes. It looked like a propped up white board, with writing on it.
He trotted down the stairs and then to the back of the lab, coming to a stop in front of the white board. He had planned on using it to write his own message. And yet there it was, a message already written on it. The first words stunned him. He fell to his knees, as if his legs could no longer bear his weight. His face quivered, his eyes filled with tears and he gulped a breath of air and held it. Finally, he finished reading the words and cried tears of joy. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves and reread the message once more, to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. It was definite.
He looked upward, closed his eyes and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” He hopped up, as nimble as a sixteen-year-old, and his mind turned over what items would go on his next shopping list. He was about to bike hundreds of miles, to someplace in Colorado. And although he would be tired, he would find the energy. He was going to go see his wife again.
Chapter 27
June 27th
After ten months and seventeen days of hiding, their wait was at an end.
Monty drove past the sign in the middle of the road announcing, “Welcome to Cicada” and pulled up to the large gate. Sounds of their anxiety filled the cab of Monty’s Explorer.
Until today, they had spent untold hours discussing their plans after getting the message from the future. “What do you do with this foreknowledge?” was their greatest debate. “How do you sit on something that may save millions, but might cause harm to those who delivered the message to them?” was another biggie. In the end, Monty was the most persuasive and they agreed on the plan, to wait until this day and then drive here.
The waiting was the hardest, the long days spent in solitude in the Arizona White Mountains, while the world went about their daily activities. It allowed their minds to harbor doubt, and that laid waste to their surety of purpose. By the time this day rolled around, they all questioned the reality of the message, in spite of all they witnessed: the retelling and presentation of the data Monty saved was convincing, but above all, it was Betsy’s miraculous turnaround. And yet, the waiting ate at their resolve and all wondered, Would the Event really come on June 28th? But yesterday evening’s very abnormal auroral light show seemed to confirm its probability. Would this place they were going to go to even exist ? And yet, here they were, parked in front of Cicada.
The gates creaked open and the vehicle’s occupants watched in anticipation of what would come next.
~~~
They were all seated around a giant cherry conference table, in sumptuous leather chairs on rollers, more like being in the board room of some giant Fortune 500 company than the conference room of a remote research facility.
“So, Dr. Montgomery, why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me why you are here,” asked Preston with a tone that was more command than query. He was the head of the facility and the man they had been told to seek
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