Read Online Touchstone (Meridian Series) by John Schettler, Mark Prost - Free Book Online
Authors: John Schettler, Mark Prost
Ads: Link
and started to say something, then caught himself, the change in
his thinking obvious on his face. Robert’s jibe about the time theory had
pricked his attention. If it was true, and the alert had been called because of
his friend’s use of the Arch, then Robert would have been in a Nexus Point, a
protected bubble in the stream of time. He would know things, aspects and
elements of his original Meridian , while everyone outside the Nexus would remain oblivious.
“Alright,” he began. “Let’s slow down here and take this one step at a time.
You say you used the Arch.”
“Yes.”
“And you went to London and had a drink with Oscar Wilde and company—just like you, Robert. What were
you thinking? You don’t get involved with Primes! How many times do we have to
tell you these things?”
“Well it wasn’t my fault. I was just sitting there, trying
to mind my own business and they latched on to me. The next thing I know I was
judging a poetry contest. I had no intention—”
“Yes you did, my friend. You went to the opera,
right? No fault in that. We were going to watch Shakespeare when this whole
thing started. But, just like Maeve warned, you can’t resist the urge to start
poking around in the history. I’ll bet you loved every minute of that little
encounter in the nightclub. What did you say you were drinking?”
“Oh, come now. I was in complete control of my faculties at
all times. Yes, I conversed with them, Wilde and Gilbert both. But it was just
happenstance. I never had any intention of tampering with a Prime Mover, and I
tried to extricate myself from the situation as soon as I could.”
“Happenstance? That’s the point Robert—that’s exactly what
a Pushpoint is—something completely innocuous in the immediate milieu that has
enormous power to catalyze the future.”
“Do you think that’s where the damage occurred?”
“Damage?”
“Yes, man. I’ve been trying to tell you that the Rosetta
Stone was damaged! All the Hieroglyphics were gone. That’s why no one ever made
the connection between the languages, don’t you see? I’ve done something to change things—God only knows what—just like we changed things after the Palma Event.
We never did figure out what happened that time, Paul. Neither one of us got
anywhere near Lawrence ’s explosives, but yet we did
something to alter the event. We stumbled on one of your pushpins and everything
was different.”
“Push points ,” Paul corrected, very annoyed.
“Whatever!”
Nordhausen was getting
quite exasperated now. “The point is that we did something to the Meridian without
even knowing it. We changed things, yet we all remember what was supposed to
happen that night because we were in the Nexus…” His eyes widened with sudden
realization. “That’s it, Paul! That’s it! I was in a Nexus Point! That’s why I
remember it all—why I can still read the hieroglyphics, because I’m retaining
memories from the time line I came from.” He gave Paul a searching look, almost
pleading. “You’ve got to believe me,” he breathed, slumping back into his
office chair. “Kelly’s Golems will bear me out. There’s no way they could miss
something like this.”
Paul took a deep breath, his mind resting in his own time
theory now. The professor was quite distressed, but was certainly convinced
that he had done something to change the continuum.
“Very well,” he said, granting Nordhausen a measure of
respect. “I agree. If you used the Arch, then you were certainly in a Nexus.
Let’s assume that all this is true. All we have to go on now is your word that
things are different—that we’re supposed to understand these hieroglyphics, and
we don’t.”
“The notebooks, Paul.” Nordhausen held up a finger. “Let’s
get
his thinking obvious on his face. Robert’s jibe about the time theory had
pricked his attention. If it was true, and the alert had been called because of
his friend’s use of the Arch, then Robert would have been in a Nexus Point, a
protected bubble in the stream of time. He would know things, aspects and
elements of his original Meridian , while everyone outside the Nexus would remain oblivious.
“Alright,” he began. “Let’s slow down here and take this one step at a time.
You say you used the Arch.”
“Yes.”
“And you went to London and had a drink with Oscar Wilde and company—just like you, Robert. What were
you thinking? You don’t get involved with Primes! How many times do we have to
tell you these things?”
“Well it wasn’t my fault. I was just sitting there, trying
to mind my own business and they latched on to me. The next thing I know I was
judging a poetry contest. I had no intention—”
“Yes you did, my friend. You went to the opera,
right? No fault in that. We were going to watch Shakespeare when this whole
thing started. But, just like Maeve warned, you can’t resist the urge to start
poking around in the history. I’ll bet you loved every minute of that little
encounter in the nightclub. What did you say you were drinking?”
“Oh, come now. I was in complete control of my faculties at
all times. Yes, I conversed with them, Wilde and Gilbert both. But it was just
happenstance. I never had any intention of tampering with a Prime Mover, and I
tried to extricate myself from the situation as soon as I could.”
“Happenstance? That’s the point Robert—that’s exactly what
a Pushpoint is—something completely innocuous in the immediate milieu that has
enormous power to catalyze the future.”
“Do you think that’s where the damage occurred?”
“Damage?”
“Yes, man. I’ve been trying to tell you that the Rosetta
Stone was damaged! All the Hieroglyphics were gone. That’s why no one ever made
the connection between the languages, don’t you see? I’ve done something to change things—God only knows what—just like we changed things after the Palma Event.
We never did figure out what happened that time, Paul. Neither one of us got
anywhere near Lawrence ’s explosives, but yet we did
something to alter the event. We stumbled on one of your pushpins and everything
was different.”
“Push points ,” Paul corrected, very annoyed.
“Whatever!”
Nordhausen was getting
quite exasperated now. “The point is that we did something to the Meridian without
even knowing it. We changed things, yet we all remember what was supposed to
happen that night because we were in the Nexus…” His eyes widened with sudden
realization. “That’s it, Paul! That’s it! I was in a Nexus Point! That’s why I
remember it all—why I can still read the hieroglyphics, because I’m retaining
memories from the time line I came from.” He gave Paul a searching look, almost
pleading. “You’ve got to believe me,” he breathed, slumping back into his
office chair. “Kelly’s Golems will bear me out. There’s no way they could miss
something like this.”
Paul took a deep breath, his mind resting in his own time
theory now. The professor was quite distressed, but was certainly convinced
that he had done something to change the continuum.
“Very well,” he said, granting Nordhausen a measure of
respect. “I agree. If you used the Arch, then you were certainly in a Nexus.
Let’s assume that all this is true. All we have to go on now is your word that
things are different—that we’re supposed to understand these hieroglyphics, and
we don’t.”
“The notebooks, Paul.” Nordhausen held up a finger. “Let’s
get
Similar Books
