Read Online Timeline by Michael Crichton - Free Book Online Page A

none.”
    “Almost none? Truly?”
    “Their president, Robert Doniger, came out two years ago. He’s a history buff, and he was very enthusiastic, like a kid. And ITC sends a vice president about once a month. One is here right now. But by and large, they leave us alone.”
    “And what do you know about ITC itself?”
    Johnston shrugged. “They do research in quantum physics. They make components used in MRIs, medical devices, and so forth. And they are developing several quantum-based dating techniques, to precisely date any artifact. We’re helping with that.”
    “I see. And these techniques, they work?”
    “We have prototype devices in our farmhouse office. So far they’ve proven too delicate for field work. They’re always breaking down.”
    “But this is why ITC funds you — to test their equipment?”
    “No,” Johnston said. “It’s the other way around. ITC is making dating equipment for the same reason ITC funds us — because Bob Doniger is enthusiastic about history. We’re his hobby.”
    “An expensive hobby.”
    “Not for him,” Johnston said. “He’s a billionaire. He bought a Gutenberg Bible for twenty-three million. He bought the Rouen Tapestry at auction for seventeen million. Our project’s just small change.”
    “Perhaps so. But Mr. Doniger is also a tough businessman.”
    “Yes.”
    “Do you really think he supports you out of personal interest?” Her tone was light, almost teasing.
    Johnston looked directly at her. “You never know, Miss Delvert, what someone’s reasons are.”
    Chris thought, He’s suspicious, too.
    Delvert seemed to sense it as well, and she immediately reverted to a more businesslike manner. “Of course, yes. But I ask this for a reason. Isn’t it true that you do not own the results of your research? Anything you find, anything you discover, is owned by ITC.”
    “Yes, that’s correct.”
    “This doesn’t bother you?”
    “If I worked for Microsoft, Bill Gates would own the results of my research. Anything I found and discovered, Bill Gates would own.”
    “Yes. But this is hardly the same.”
    “Why not? ITC is a technical company, and Doniger set up this fund the way technical companies do such things. The arrangement doesn’t bother me. We have the right to publish our findings — they even pay for publication.”
    “After they approve them.”
    “Yes. We send our reports to them first. But they have never commented.”
    “So you see no greater ITC plan behind all this?” she asked.
    Johnston said, “Do you?”
    “I don’t know,” she said. “That is why I am asking you. Because of course there are some extremely puzzling aspects to the behavior of ITC as a company.”
    “What aspects?”
    “For example,” she said, “they are one of the world’s largest consumers of xenon.”
    “Xenon? You mean the gas?”
    “Yes. It is used in lasers and electron tubes.”
    Johnston shrugged. “They can have all the xenon gas they want. I can’t see how it concerns me.”
    “What about their interest in exotic metals? ITC recently purchased a Nigerian company to assure their supply of niobium.”
    “Niobium.” Johnston shook his head. “What’s niobium?”
    “It is a metal similar to titanium.”
    “What’s it used for?”
    “Superconducting magnets, and nuclear reactors.”
    “And you wonder what ITC is using it for?” Johnston shook his head again. “You’d have to ask them, Miss Delvert.”
    “I did. They said it was for ‘research in advanced magnetics.’ ”
    “There you are. Any reason not to believe them?”
    “No,” she said. “But as you said yourself, ITC is a research company. They employ two hundred physicists at their main facility, a place called Black Rock, in New Mexico. It is clearly and unquestionably a high-technology company.”
    “Yes. . . .”
    “So I wonder: Why would a high-technology company want so much land?”
    “Land?”
    “ITC has purchased large land parcels in remote locations