Read Online Touchstone (Meridian Series) by John Schettler, Mark Prost - Free Book Online Page A

over to my study and see if they’ve changed. Would they change?”  He looked
to Paul for the answer. “Champollion’s work vanished. God, what if my notebooks
are altered as well? What does the time theory say about a situation like this?
Would my personal effects be altered even if I was in a Nexus? Come on, man—You
dreamt all this up!”
           Dorland relented, giving the professor the benefit of the
doubt. “You’re saying you wrote the hieroglyphics in a notebook?”
           “Yes, I kept a journal using hieroglyphics instead of Roman
letters—A little code I was playing with. Will it still be there? Will it
vanish, or change, just like Lawrence ’s Seven Pillars?”
           “No…” Paul was suddenly deep in thought, pulled into the
crux of the problem by Nordhausen’s obvious enthusiasm and distress. “No, if
you were in a Nexus Point when the change occurred then that would make you a
Free Variable, like we all were Free Variables during that first mission. In
that case…” He paused, his hand playing over his chin as he thought. “Well, the
integrity of your own personal Time Meridian should remain quite stable. It’s
very likely that your notebooks would be unaltered. The knowledge you claim to
have in your head about this stone relies upon them. They would have to exist.”
           “Then we’ve got to get over to the study! It will prove
everything I’ve been saying!”
           “But—” Paul held up a warning finger. “You have apparently
created a Gordian knot. Without the original work of the scholars who
deciphered the hieroglyphics, then how could you have ever learned to decipher
them, or even written your notebooks? That means you may be exposed to—”
           Nordhausen was up off his chair before Paul could finish
his thought, reaching out to take his friend by the arm and pull him along.
           “It’s clear that we won’t resolve this by speculation.
Let’s go look! My study is just a few minutes away.”
           “Hold on,” said Paul. “We can prove it right here.” He sat
down at a terminal and began typing.
           “What are you doing?” Nordhausen was at his side, still
very agitated, his impatience getting the better of him now.
           “You say there was
something called the Rosetta Stone. The Golems are out searching the Internet
right now, but let me do a direct query to the on-line RAM bank—the reference
bank we’ve kept running since the incident in Wadi Rumm.” It was not long
before he had a report in hand that confirmed everything his friend was saying.
           “See what I mean?” Nordhausen was delighted. “It’s all
there: the discovery date, the significance of the find, Champollion’s work and
even good photos. Look here,” he pointed at an image. “This whole section was
gone when I saw the stone in the British Museum and, without that, no one could
make the connection with the other languages. Come on—let’s go get my notebooks
and see if they’ve survived!”
           “What about Kelly and Maeve?” Paul cautioned. “There’s an
alert on, and we can’t just leave the Arch facility in the middle of things.
The Golems haven’t even finished their report yet.”
           The phone rang, on the emergency line reserved for the
senior team members, and they both craned their necks to look at it. Paul was
the first to the receiver, smiling when he heard Maeve’s voice on the other end
of the line.
           “Hello, Maeve,” he began. “You coming in soon? We’ve got an
alert from Kelly’s Golems and… What’s that? … Oh lord!” His eyes widened with
shock and surprise and Nordhausen felt his stomach churn. Paul listened, his
expression becoming more grave with each passing second.
           “We’re coming right over,” he said. “No, don’t worry about
the Arch, the Golems are working the report now and it will take them at