Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (60 page)

Jack reacted by turning to glimpse it. When he turned back again, the man was gone. He looked at the vial in his hand. Then, he took a deep breath and sat on the bed next to Rachel. He reached down, held her hand and took another deep breath…

Chapter 33

Airlift-
Mid July

              A private airlift zoomed far above Earth, travelling with only two passengers, Marion Brock and Charlie Rosse. An optically clear window, four feet long by three feet high, lined one wall of the cabin. The entire vehicle was fueled by the Brock Companies’ Moon Mining Businesses. This was the first completely operated, unmanned space travel vehicle, not controlled or financed by a government contract. It had all the accoutrements of a high class hotel, on Earth. The two men sat comfortably looking down at the majesty of the Nile River.

Brock snickered, sarcastically, “It’s hard to believe that ten miles under there, men have built a way of life based on healthcare. If I hadn’t found out Swanson was holding out on me; well, I should be thankful.”

“What do you think people will do, once they know about ‘The Colonies’?”

“Nothing, the media frenzy will last a week, two at most. We will be fine; people are stupid. When all is said and done, this little gadget will make the difference up here.”

Brock and Rosse had just left Brock’s personal port station orbiting Earth and were now on their way to the Moon.

“Marion, for the last nine months now, your whole effort was to discover time travel. Why?”

Brock was in a good mood and knew the trip was going to take a while, so he put up with Rosse.

“Given my history and the events of this year, I trust you’ll understand; insurance was always a consideration.”

“Sorry, I don’t understand.”

“I guess I shouldn’t expect you to. I have a dream that my companies will revolutionize life. Can you imagine; if on that silly little planet, we all could travel in time, not just through it? Until me, our only choice has been to decide how to spend the time we have. What if we could make the time we have, whatever we want? That’s what I wanted…And more than that, I wanted to break away, to break out, from the prison of time. Of course, how do we do that, without the right fuel? Do you realize how much fuel is burned up, just trying to get out of the
gravitational pull of that little planet; hence my multitasking, to mine the moon. Who else is doing it, the governments? I know that’s all bullshit.”

“So this has all been to lead the people of planet Earth to space travel?”

“Both…Time travel is much more than you can imagine. Think of this. As we get less dependent on the base elements of our little blue ball, we can jump from one planet, to other planets and mine fuel as we go. But whatever the fuel is, it has to generate power enough for ‘time travel’. Time Travel is the key. It will allow us to travel far beyond our little blue ball, through the Galaxy and beyond; I think someone said.”

Rosse stared at Brock in amazement.

“Hah, I really had you there for a minute.” Brock broke out into laughter. “Here, read this.”

Brock handed Rosse a booklet that was stamped TOP SECRET.

“You should see your face Charlie…You gullible shit. See; a little sincerity and even you will listen. I got your attention; didn’t I?”

“You have my attention with this too. You never mentioned this, in any meeting with me.”

“What did you think I was doing with that Carrier, anyway?”

“I thought you were trapped inside him.”

“Up to a point, I was. He wanted me; and I found out many things, because, as he grew, so did I. We know time travel is possible; and we will take all the knowledge we got from Stevens and the Carrier, and set up shop elsewhere.”

“You mean out here?”

“I have just the right spot in mind. And there will be no threat or interference, this time. Look, that’s where we’ve been, but that’s where we’re going.”

Rosse followed Brock’s finger and looked out the portside window. There; through it, he saw the moon getting larger.

“My companies have built 3 space stations and an inventory port, for the distribution of space fuel needed to power all travel, from point to point out here. There’s plenty on the Moon. You are going to see what the Brock Companies have invested silently in, for the past 35 years: Space Fuels to fill vehicles, like gas stations do, for cars on Earth. It’s a whole new world. With fuel, communication, and time travel up here; there are no limits.”

“Communication? You mean the VAD.  I must say, it was brilliant, your introduction on the 4
th
of July.”

“Yep, and now we have a way to communicate up here that’s light years from the old cell or satellite technology. I have 300 of these little gems back there, and we’re going to deliver them to the mining camps and distribution port. Charlie my friend, I am making you the top dog up here. It’s graduation; reward time for you. You are going to run the show.”

Rosse did a double take, half smiled and asked, “That’s great; but, I thought this was a fact finding mission. Marion, I’m flattered, and certainly I could, would; yes, I…Thank you.”

“Good, it’s settled. You will be impressed. The mining camps are almost 100% robotic-cyber operated. We only have 10 people, in management positions; smart guys…That makes all the difference. Why these little devices will enable us all to interact, as though we were in
the next room. This trip is as much ‘PR’ as anything else. You and I needed to get away, anyway.”

Brock patted Rosse on the shoulder and sat down in a comfort chair, facing Earth.

KNOFER, ECHO 4: VAD

Introduced July 4, 2999 by O.P.A.S., Seattle Washington

After only 10 months of combined research, The Brock Companies present the Knofer Echo 4

General Specifications: VAD-Video/Audio Device

Size: 3.25 inches X 4.5 inches X 1/8” inch

Brock Co. Software

Security Imprint able

Diamond Circuitry

Transcontinental Communication Device and Medical Monitor

Connect to Worldwide Medical Hospitals

Battery life: 2 months, solar or electric recharge

Capable of global interface at any frequency

Unlimited download

Fact finder, capable of interface with all known languages

Translates to and from any language

Unlimited Random Access Memory

2D/3D display

Streaming to and from any device

Hermetically sealed

Impact resistant: up to 100 ft

Temperature limits: -200 +200

Military Grade available

Voice activation

*Contact your Brock Company Dealer for more details.

^^^^^^^^^^

Rosse sat across from him, staring at the Moon and whispering to himself, “Mining camps, ten people, the Moon…”

He reached
out, in front of himself, flipped his plastic seat-back down and took out a map and details of the Moon Camps.

“Mining Camp Robots; they don’t look like they even talk. Maybe I should find out…” He took out his new Echo 4, VAD.  “…No time like the present to say hello to these guys.”

He pressed his thumb against the screen, to activate the features. Then, he tapped it again, and again; but, nothing happened.

“Uh, Marion, is your Echo working? Mine looks great, but it doesn’t seem to do anything; must be the altitude, eh.”

Brock took his out and pressed his thumb on the screen; likewise, nothing. He did it several times, and then muttered, “It was working fine on the port station. Here, let me see yours.”

He shook them both, giggling at first, “I never should have negotiated with our prison friend, Marshall. This was my failsafe. It was all about the power.”

He continued, repeatedly, to press his thumbprint and shake the Echos. “My researchers said they could duplicate those lovely, little, Knofers, I gave them.”

“Knofers; what’s a Knofer?”

Brock gradually became more intense, “Shit, it should work! Why doesn’t it work? Stupid! Stupid! I gave them the samples. I gave them the damn samples! They worked fine. It was unprecedented, a new VAD-Video/Audio Device in ten months, unprecedented. July 4
th
was Nick’s birthday…Lotta good that did.”

“Let’s just call someone, from the cockpit.”

The two went upfront and sat in the two captain’s chairs. Brock commented, “These are just for show, this is all automatic.”

As Brock studied the lighted panel before him, they both felt a jerk, and heard a sputter from the rear of the cabin. Then, the panel lights went out and everything went dark. The Airlift began to drift to one side, and they heard what sounded like a carburetor sputtering. Brock quickly concentrated on the Echos again.

Rosse panicked in the dark. “So we’re stuck here?”

“Don’t be stupid; 25,000 miles per hour is hardly stuck…This thing is supposed to draw power from any source. God damn Sheldon…Damn that Swanson; that’s what I get for trusting them all.”

Brock’s hissy fit was escalating into a rage.

“Marion, I think we are passing the Moon.”

The airlift jerked again, and it started to slowly tumble and spin out of control. Charlie Rosse watched Brock keep talking to himself, obsessed with the two Echos. At first, they couldn’t feel the spin, because of the weightless environment; but then Rosse sensed the momentum increase, when he saw the Earth pass across the window like the sun fast forwarding across a clear Seattle skyline. It moved from the top of the window to the bottom with ever increasing speed; faster with each spin. Rosse pushed himself out of his seat, back to the big bay window. He could see both the Earth and Moon now. The Airlift began not only spinning side to side, but it was also flipping back over front.

“Marion, you better come here and see this. Something is really wrong.”

Brock was frustrated anyway and let the Echos float. He joined Rosse and they both stared out at something no one ever saw before. Something was blocking their view of the Earth, as the airlift spun.

Allenfar

It was Allenfar, floating no more than 100 meters from the Airlift.

“Christ,” Brock said, “Damn fish! I hate those things.”

“What; what the hell are you talking about; what is that?”

Brock shook his head; only now at the last, was he to understand.

“They wanted me to have the samples…”

Rosse’s head moved side to side, trying to follow the spinning the image.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Brock was enraged. His eyes bulged in panic. He could hear the Carrier in his mind; and, suddenly, the Tyree Master appeared in the airlift cabin, behind Brock and Rosse.

“You are where you should be, Marion Brock. You will be remembered, as you wished. Oh, it seems your ‘Compatibility’ has been released. It has enabled us to live quite well in sunlight. Thank you. I stopped the power in your little toys. They won’t work up here. We will be joining surface man, and hope to help him in many ways. It is time…Your people didn’t have a clue what the power source was, in the samples. They just used primitive batteries. As always, you assumed, rather than learned. Good luck; and enjoy the ride.”

The image before the men disappeared.

Rosse grabbed Brock by his lapels and shook him. “What the hell just happened?”

Brock pushed him off and slapped his palms against the Airlift window.

“You Sonofabitch! You Bastards! This isn’t the end of this! This isn’t the end!”

Chapter 34

Aftershock

On the surface, above Time Trust, in Giza, Egypt; on the ramp between the arms of the great Sphinx; three men walked and talked, in the sunset; GGM Mathew Bellos, his new recruit and relative, Andrew, and Jake Burns. Burns spoke to Andrew in a lighthearted tone.