The Navigators (10 page)

Chapter Thirteen

R
oger bolted from the couch and ran a hand through his hair. “This is bullshit. What’s taking them so long?”

Peeky and Melissa had been gone for over an hour. Meanwhile, as Barry scrubbed the machine, it called to Roger, begging for another test.

He looked over at Riff. “Hey, did you want to be here for the first test? I feel bad that you missed it.”

Barry was not amused. He bunched up his cleaning cloth. “What’s up, Roger?”

“Nothing’s up. I’m just asking Riff here if he’d like to see a test of the machine. After all, the rest of us got to…”

Riff sat up. “Fuck, yeah, I’d like to see a test.”

Barry stood, shoving the rag into his pocket. “Hold on, you two.”

“Hold on what, Barry? You’re not in charge.” Roger walked over to the machine. “We’re all part of this thing. Riff only missed out because he was in the hospital, and he was only in the hospital because he was the one who dug the time machine out of the side of the hill.”

“What’s your point?”

Roger stared at the machine. “The point is, he deserves to see a test.”

“Definitely!” Riff jumped up.

“Come on. You’re thinking about it, too. Aren’t you just a little curious?”

“Okay, I am.” Barry said. “But we damn near got concussions the first time. We have to be smart about how we move forward.”

Roger folded his arms. “Right. Findlay said it was a viewer, right? So whoever rides in it will get to see something spectacular but not really be there. Like watching a movie, I think you said.”

“Yeah. Something like that…”

Roger put his hand on the bronze metal frame. “So why don’t we fire it up and catch a flick?”

“How’s it work?” Riff asked.

Smiling, Roger turned his eyes to Riff. “I’ll show you.”

* * * * *

“Melissa, I-”

Melissa held up a hand. “It’s okay . . . Janice.” Melissa spoke in calm, measured tones, like a mix of relief and reassurance. “I love my dad. I want him to be happy. Uncle Troy said . . . you make Dad happy. That you’re good for him.”

Janice blinked a few times. Now
her
cheeks reddened. “I don’t know what to say – and that’s a rarity for somebody who works with words for a living.”

“Troy’s a good judge of character.” Melissa drew a breath. “He likes you, so I like you.” A smile spread across her lips. “I guess my dad does, too.”

Janice arranged her paper napkin on the table, giving a thin smile back. “I’m not so sure…”

“Well, just . . . hang in there. He’ll come around.”

I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. The tables had definitely turned.

“It’s fair to say he has a lot on his mind.” Janice cleared her throat. “Considering the election and all.”

Melissa sighed, staring at her coffee. “Dad’s always watched after me. For a long time, it was just the two of us.” She looked up at Janice. “And I tried to watch after him, too.”

A smile tugged at Janice’s lips. “Am I getting your endorsement for the job?”

“Janice,” Melissa leaned forward in her chair. “You’ve been dating my dad for a while now. If I don’t give you an endorsement, you’ll never get to first base with him.”

“Ha!” I blurted. “Uh, excuse me. I need to, um… nothing.”

“Sorry.” Melissa laughed, appearing to realize what she’d said. “You know what I mean. Give him a chance. Just don’t…”

“Hurt him?”

Melissa pushed her hair from her face. “That’s right.”

“I promise.”

“I’m trusting you with a lot more than a story here.”

Janice dropped her notepad into her bag. “I feel that way, too.” Then she added, “I think I ought to have a little chat with your sneaky uncle Troy, though.”

“Go easy on him.” Melissa sipped her coffee. “He’s a tax attorney, not a trial lawyer like Dad. He won’t hold up under strong interrogation.”

Janice laughed.

The conversation went on that way, laughing and joking like two old friends. It was as if they had discovered a kindred spirit. In a way, I guess that’s what they were.

* * * * *

From the back seat of Roger’s car, Barry quietly slipped his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped the volume to “vibrate.” Then he dialed Melissa.

No answer.

He sent a quick text.
Call me.

Maybe if she interrupted the test with a phone call, Roger could be persuaded to wait.

Maybe.

Roger drove, glancing at Barry in the rear view mirror. “Quit sulking. You know I’ll eventually test the time machine anyway, with or without you. You have to sleep sometime.”

“I want to test it. I just want to be safe. There are still too many things we don’t know.”

“We’ve been thinking about them ever since we figured out what the thing is. We’re taking the precautions we can think of. Now, it’s time to test it again.”

Roger pulled his car into the parking lot at Radio Shack.

* * * * *

As we walked across the USF commons, Melissa apologized. “I kept you so long! I had no idea, Peeky. Time just flew by.”

“Like the way it does when you’re on a date and you find the other person so interesting, you don’t want it to end.”

“I guess so.”

I looked at her, the street lights illuminating her face. She seemed satisfied. Happy, even. Her smile hadn’t faded since we left the coffee shop.

“That’s a good sign for you.” I put my hands in my pockets as we walked. “And for your father. After you, who else knows him better? If you like Janice this much after tonight, he must, too. He’s known her much longer.”

“It’s sure something to think about.” She glanced at me. “You know a lot about relationships, don’t you?”

I chuckled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but compared to you, just about everyone in the world does.”

“What?” her jaw dropped. “Just because Roger and I- ”

“Bah, Roger. I know there’s nothing between you and Roger. Not really. I’ve seen what’s been going on over the past year or so. You two are just – pardon my French – ‘F’ buddies.”

She chuckled. “That’s not very French, Peeky.”

“I’m not talking about that stuff, the superficial things. I’m talking about something real, with someone who actually cares about you. Like Barry.”

Her mouth dropped open.

* * * * *

“Where to?” Roger asked, adjusting the dark green welder’s goggles. Orange foam earplugs hung out of his ears.

Riff snorted. “You look ridiculous, man.”

“Almost as bad as you two, eh Barry?”

“Where are we sending you, Roger?”

“To Julius freaking Caesar, man. Ancient Rome.”

Riff plopped down onto Barry’s couch. “What’s so special about Rome that you need to go there?”

“Nothing.” Roger shook his head. “That’s the point. It’s a viewer. I go check in on Julius Caesar around the time he’s about to get whacked.” He put his hands on his hips. “We pretty much know the date. We definitely know the location. I can pop in and see everything, and come back, no muss no fuss.”

“Cool.” Riff nodded. “Will that work?”

“I’m not sure.” Barry chewed on one of his fingernails. “Something’s bugging me about this.”

Roger rolled his eyes. “Hey, it’s a viewer. If I see anything, I come back and report. From that, we’ll improve our safety protocols and we’re on our way.” He grabbed the frame and swung into the seat, scanning the panel. “The Big Bang, the birth of Christ, you name it. Any significant event in history that we have a time and place for, we can see it happen.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.” Barry patted his thigh. “I just can’t put my finger on it, but something’s… not right.”

Roger sighed. “What’s the problem?”

“When it comes to time travel, there are a lot of variables.” Barry paced around the machine. “You get these paradoxes, so what do you do about them? I apply the Theory of Definitions.”

Riff sat up. “Like what kind of paradoxes?”

“Like, you want to go back in time and kill Hitler so that no Holocaust occurs. So you do. You’re successful. But then we get to today, and there is no reason for you back in time to kill Hitler because there was no Holocaust. See? So you wouldn't go, and if you don't go the holocaust happens. There's the paradox.”

“Okay. Paradox. Got it.”

“The Theory of Definitions simply asks: how can everything in that situation be true?” Barry circled the machine, staring at it.

“So you start out with, you know, World War II happened. The Holocaust happened. Your parents get together and
you
happen. And now here comes the time machine.” He dropped into the couch next to Riff. “In order for all the variables to remain true, you either can't go back in time, or you go back in time but the changes you cause didn’t change the outcomes we know happened—you were inconsequential, or you go back in time and you’re
unable
to cause changes.”

Riff cocked his head, narrowing his eyes. “Okay . . .”

“That last one,” Barry tapped the arm of the couch with his finger. “That’s the Viewer Conclusion. You're just an impartial observer looking at the reflected light that existed at the time of the events, coming off the objects as they move, but you're unable to interact with them. You can’t make a difference, just like a person watching a movie sees the actors on the screen but can’t change what is happening.”

Riff chuckled. “Dude, I am so lost.”

It didn’t matter.

“And realistically, if you go back in time and are not a viewer, time is relative.” He got up and paced again. “So maybe you go back and you see all these things that might take place over hours or days for
you
, but to them you might only appear for 1/16th of the second—a little blip—and you may witness wondrous things, but to them it’s just a flash—they think they see something out of the corner of their eye, and when they look, there’s nothing there.” He turned and smiled at Riff. “That’s Blip Theory. That’s really the most plausible…”

Roger climbed out of the machine and went over to the computer.

Barry glanced at him. "What are you doing?"

"Finding out where all this Theory of Definitions and Blip Theory stuff came from." Roger typed for a moment. Riff watched from over his shoulder.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Barry walked into the kitchen to grab another Diet Coke. He glanced at his cell phone. Nothing from Melissa.

After an unsuccessful two minutes, Roger turned to look at his friend. "There’s nothing on either of those topics. What, did you come up with that stuff yourself?"

"Um...yeah. It’s the most plausible, based on… you know, the science."

Roger climbed back into the time machine. “Barry, sometimes you scare me.”

“Yeah, well.” Barry took a sip of his soda. “You scare me all the fucking time.”

“You’re stalling. You just want Missy here.” Riff stared at Barry. “Are you afraid she’ll be pissed when she gets back and sees we took a trip without her?”

“No.” Barry sighed, slumping back into his chair. “Well, maybe.”

“Dude, you’re letting the little head do the thinking for the big head.” Roger checked the grip on the side levers. “She and Peeky aren’t here, big deal. Riff missed a test, too. Hell, we’ll all miss a test sooner or later, myself included. But we have to test. We’re scientists. It’s in our DNA.”

Barry rubbed his chin. “I feel like we’re rushing. Like I’m forgetting something.”

Roger leaned forward on the metal seat and started adjusting the panel dials. “Riff, hand me the coordinates we got from the GPS.”

“Roger’s right, Barry. Melissa being here wouldn’t make a difference.” Riff picked up some notes from the table and handed them to Roger. “What would she add right now? Except to make you want to show off for her or something.”

Pushing himself up straighter on the cushion, Barry sighed. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I don’t know, do you think a girl like her and a guy like me could ever…”

“No.” Roger shot from the cockpit. “No chance. Melissa’s dad’s about to become mayor. From there, it’s just a short step to Governor. And if that goes well, he’ll run for president.” Roger sat back, shaking his head. “Damn. President of the fucking United States. He’d run, and he’d probably freaking win. And you think during all that careful planning, he’ll have his precious daughter dating a rock duster like you? Making no money and spending all your time out in the middle of nowhere for months at a time?” He turned his attention back to the dials. “It’s not in the cards, bro. Missy’s a chip off the old block. She’ll pair up with a south Tampa lawyer that her dad approves of. Somebody with money and a future that meets the expectations of Mr. Mills.”

* * * * *

“Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed the way he looks at you.”

My tiredness was getting the better of me. It let my mouth say the things my eyes had observed for months. “The way Barry goes out of his way to be around you. The way – just the other day, when you agreed to go on the trip to the mine, he picked you up and twirled you around.”