The Didymus Contingency (12 page)

He felt his hands grow clammy. The past days had been filled with so many dramatic discoveries, breakthroughs and close calls, he wasn’t sure he would be prepared for the potential information this device would supply.

The computer whirred to life as David depressed the power button. David sighed with relief, but before all the air escaped from his chest, he sucked in a panicked breath. The computer screen flashed with vibrant colors and David feared he had fried the computer. Then again, David remembered the computer working fine when he had gotten home from Israel.

The screen went black for a moment and then a face appeared on the screen. David almost fell over backwards with shock as his own wizened and old eyes stared back at him.

“David, what I wouldn’t give to see your face when you see what this device proves. It’s changed the way we think about time and will provide you with the freedom to embark on a great adventure,” the voice of an older David echoed from the computer speakers.

David stared at his face on the screen, wrinkled and tan.
Tan
? Had he spent time in the sun? Before David could continue his line of thinking, the computerized recording continued its one-way dialogue.

“I know what you’re thinking, David,” the future David said. “You’ll be spending a few more days in the sun than you’re used to. Remember, I was once you sitting in front of our old computer monitor listening to myself talk to myself. Heh, I could make your life boring and tell you how things turn out, but that would ruin the fun now, wouldn’t it?”

The image of David leaned in close and smiled wide. “I will tell you one thing, though...”

David leaned closer to the computer as though he were about to hear a secret.

“Modern science will make amazing advances in dentistry in the future, so don’t trouble yourself with Tom’s teasing about your soda habit.”

David leaned back with a smile on his face. He was funny.

“Enjoy,” his future self said with a wink.

Then his face disappeared and was replaced by a black screen. Two sets of numbers appeared and began scrolling higher and higher, into the billions. Both numbers stopped at 598,098,982,001. Two jagged lines appeared, labeled True Time and Present Time. The lines stretched across the screen, stopped and then overlapped. They were identical. A number labeled Time Variance, in the bottom right of the screen, began to scroll backwards from 100. David watched eagerly, waiting to see his theory be proved by machinery created by his future self. The number stopped at 0.00000000000. David smiled as the message, “Time Variance Not Detected—Time Stream Intact,” appeared on the screen.

David leaned back in the chair, relieved because he finally knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, time could not be changed. But then his stomach sank. He knew the truth. He knew the inevitable outcome of Tom’s past and future. He knew when, where and how Tom would die, and telling him wouldn’t do any good. It was set in stone, recorded in history; Tom was going to die thousands of years in the past.

*   *   *   *   *

Tom was beginning to wonder where David had gone. David left more than five hours ago and time wasn’t an object. If he stayed away for a year, he still could have come back just seconds after he left. Tom worried that something might have happened to David—maybe some kind of malfunction with the time travel devices or maybe David needed his help.

Tom’s thoughts were crushed by the loud laughter from the men around him. Jesus was to his right and the other men around the table were just a few of the other eleven disciples Jesus had appointed earlier that day. Tom formulated a plan and was about to excuse himself when David entered the tavern.

“Tom!” David said excitedly, as he moved to the table full of men, “Tom, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Is this a friend of yours?” Matthew asked. He was a rotund yet muscular man sitting across from Tom.

“I don’t go anywhere without him.” Tom turned to David. “Isn’t that right, David?”

“Ha Ha! Welcome!” Matthew shouted to David, and then more loudly to the barkeep, “A drink for our friend!”

Matthew expertly flung a coin to the barkeep, who caught and pocketed it. David was about to try to speak again, but Tom wouldn’t give him the chance. “David, I’d like you to meet, Matthew.”

“M—Matthew?” David would later realize how stunned he must have looked. Here he was, meeting one of the disciples and future authors of the Bible. David’s jaw was wide open. Not that Matthew seemed to notice.

“Fine to meet you!” Matthew shouted, as he gave David a firm whack on the back that nearly knocked all the air from David’s lungs.

Matthew leaned back as best he could and revealed a small mousy man sitting behind him. “Our shy friend here is Judas.” Judas gave a little wave.

“Judas? Him?” David couldn’t believe who he was meeting and the look on his face said it all.

“You have a look of knowledge about you. Perhaps you have met Judas before?” Jesus asked David with a suspicious look in his eyes.

“No...No, I haven’t,” David replied.

The man sitting next to Jesus extended his long, skinny arm to David. “I’m Peter.”

David tried harder to repress his shock this time around, knowing it was bound to happen at least eight more times. “Hi, hello...” David said, as he shook Peter’s hand. “Tom, we need to talk. It’s important that you know this.”

“You’re among friends here, David. You have nothing to fear from us. Speak your mind,” Jesus said.

“Yeah, what’s so important?” Tom added.

David was in a corner and struggled for words. “I, uh, I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming one of the twelve apostles—uh, I mean disciples! Disciples I meant.”

“Bartender, cancel his drink,” Matthew shouted, “He’s had too much to drink already!”

Tom smiled and said, “Well thanks for stopping by...hey, we’re heading out to the Sea of Galilee tomorrow. You want to join us?”

David was on the spot and could see Tom was enjoying it. Everyone’s eyes burrowed into David, urging him for an answer. David smiled. It was time to turn the tables on Tom. “Yes, of course.”

Tom’s facial expression went blank.

“Excellent!” Matthew said.

David turned to Jesus and said, “Is it...would it be all right if I traveled with you? With the disciples?”

Jesus mulled over the question briefly and then replied, “You may travel with me and the twelve, but some of my teachings you do not need to hear. Do you understand?”

Butterflies filled David’s stomach as he realized that this was Jesus, the man he believed to be God. Surely, Jesus knew who he was, where and when he was from. Was that comment, that question directed toward David as someone who knew what was going to happen in the years to follow, who already believed? “I understand,” David replied.

“Good,” said Tom, “The walking will do you good. You need to give those flaccid, old muscles of yours a workout!”

The group burst out laughing. Even David, no longer held captive by fears of catastrophic time alterations, was able to find the humor. He chuckled with the group.

“Be nice,” Jesus added, “He’s in excellent shape...for someone his age!”

The group laughed again and David’s laughter was among the loudest. Tom was laughing too, but his was a skillful ruse, deployed so that no one would notice the fear in his eyes. He had heard and seen enough to know that life here in ancient Israel was no picnic. He had begun to reconsider his plot to stay. Maybe it was too risky? Maybe they would change the future? Tom cursed himself for not talking to David when he had asked. He fully expected David to throw a fit, drag him outside and demand that they leave. What did David know, and why did he agree to stay?

Tom couldn’t make sense of anything since Jesus appointed him the twelfth disciple. The only thoughts Tom could hold onto kept repeating in his head,
How the hell did this happen? And why is David suddenly making things worse?

—NINE—

First Steps

29 A.D.

12:32 P.M.

Magdala, on the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Five months of life in ancient Israel proved to be the most challenging, rigorous, and most spectacular of Tom’s and David’s lives. They had survived the summer, traveling through the countryside, villages and cities of ancient Israel. Tom was beginning to speak Aramaic and David could pass for one of the locals. David’s speech, dress and knowledge of ancient customs were impeccable. But what annoyed Tom more than anything else was David’s sixth sense about what was going to happen next, what stories were going to be told and what they meant.

David traveled with Tom and the other eleven disciples, but as he had agreed with Jesus, did not participate in all discussions and did not attend every event. At the same time, Tom had the pleasure of a front row seat, and like a cocky child at a magic show, he searched and scrutinized for the slightest sign of forgery, misdirection and illusion. Over the months, he had witnessed the healing of lepers and cripples, heard the teachings of Jesus and had become swift friends with the bulky Matthew, the tall and slender Peter, the short and timid Judas and the ever-rugged Jesus. The six men, including David, were near inseparable.

Tom had come to respect Matthew’s knowledge of mathematics. For a man in ancient Israel, Tom was convinced Matthew could grasp Quantum Science if given the chance...and he was funny as hell. He found Peter’s firm and honest grasp of reality to be refreshing. And Judas, quiet Judas. Tom admired the man’s drive. Judas desired so powerfully to do something important with his life that Tom became convinced he would. Then there was Jesus.

Tom shared a love/hate relationship with Jesus. When on worldly subjects, the two saw eye to eye, but when it came to matters of religion, Tom openly and blatantly questioned Jesus’s teaching and miracles. Tom was dedicated in his quest to debunk Jesus, but was continuously frustrated. Tom had never met a man who could talk circles around him, but Jesus could manage it with ease. The group of them didn’t share the same beliefs, backgrounds and educations, but had bonded the way travelers in a dangerous land tend to do, and they trusted each other with their lives.

And it was a dangerous land. Even now, the threat of being crushed by the overeager crowd before them became unmistakable. The fourteen of them were backed against the gently lapping waves of the Sea of Galilee by a pushing and shoving mob, like crazed fans at a World Cup soccer match. Matthew and Peter did their best to fend the people off, but their best efforts wouldn’t last much longer as those desperate to be healed of every affliction, from allergies to skin cancer, vied for position at the front of the crowd.

Even Jesus seemed uncomfortable with the situation. “I think it is time we departed,” Jesus said.

A woman in the crowd caught wind of Jesus’s comment and screamed, “You can’t leave yet! I’m still sick!”

The crowd surged forward and Matthew spread his beefy arms like a wall. “Stay behind me!” Matthew yelled to Jesus.

Tom couldn’t believe what he was seeing. These people were crazy. Tom was sure Jesus “healed” people by paying them to feign illness, and upon Jesus’s cue, whether it be a hand gesture, touch or word, be miraculously healed. Now, every fool with a bruise for thirty square miles had shown up to receive a dose of false hope. Tom decided that someone had to come up with a plan and being the person with the highest IQ, Tom volunteered himself. He scanned the area behind them and saw a small boat tied up in the water, only a few feet from shore. It looked seaworthy and large enough to accommodate the fourteen. “Let’s take the boat,” Tom said to Jesus.

“It’s not ours,” David objected.

Jesus patted David on the shoulder with a smile and said, “Then we’ll return it.”

The disciples acted without having to be told. They ran into the water and loaded themselves into the boat, while Matthew remained on the beach, continuing to hold the crowd at bay. Jesus calmly waded into the water and was pulled aboard by Peter. The crowd pushed forward; Matthew was losing ground.

David stood outside the boat and said, “This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen. It’s not our boat. We can’t just take it.”

“David, I’m positive the owner of this vessel would rather us escape the mob than see us die before our time, don’t you?” Jesus replied, as he extended his hand to David.

David took Jesus’s hand and was pulled aboard.

“We’re all in!” Peter yelled to Matthew, who was still on shore.

People began to pull on Matthew’s clothes, begging him not to let Jesus leave, pleading with him to change Jesus’s mind. Mathew pushed the crowd back with a mighty heave and then splashed into the water, running as fast as he could through the waves, toward the boat, which was already floating out to sea.

Matthew kicked and splashed, pushing through the water, toward the boat like an oversized St. Bernard.

Tom thought the sight was hysterical, but dared not laugh, as Matthew, who clearly did not know how to swim, was dog paddling for his life.

Matthew made it to the boat and shimmied to the side. Tom, David and Peter took hold of Matthew and pulled with all their strength. Matthew didn’t budge. He weighed three hundred pounds and was currently water logged.

Jesus moved in and grabbed Matthew’s garments. Together, Tom, David, Peter and Jesus pulled Matthew into the boat, while the rest of the disciples sat on the opposite side of the boat to keep it from capsizing.

Once inside the boat, Matthew flopped to the floor, panting for air. “If I knew...I was going to be swimming...I would have brought...extra under garments!” shouted Matthew between breaths, followed by a hearty laugh and then an out of breath fat man’s cough.

The tension of the boat’s crew was relived by Matthew’s antics. A light chuckle escaped from the group and expanded into full-blown laughter. David, however, was not laughing. His thoughts lay elsewhere. Today’s events did not transpire as he had imagined they would. Was taking this boat stealing or was Jesus right? Could they safely assume the boat’s owner would have no hard feelings when the boat was returned? And David had witnessed Tom influencing Jesus! It was Tom’s idea to take the boat! David decided to watch Tom’s actions more closely and make sure he wasn’t trying to find a flaw in Jesus by creating it himself. As for taking the boat, David decided that Jesus was right. But David couldn’t shake the awful feeling in his stomach since the events on the beach. When Jesus approved the taking of the boat, all of David’s beliefs were instantly called into question. David still couldn’t believe the thought had crossed his mind. He tried to erase the question from his mind, but was unable. It repeated over and over, tormenting him and tempting him to doubt.
Did Jesus sin?