The Navigators (4 page)

In the end, it didn’t matter.

Using the machine might have killed its inventors or allowed them to enjoy riches and a life of comfort until they died of old age. No one could know for sure.

Sometime before the morning sun peeked over his window sill, he allowed himself to shower, finally shedding all the mud he’d acquired the day before at the mine. But the questions persisted. Multiplied.

Ancient civilizations had simple electric batteries, too, and skilled metal workers, choosing to work in soft gold to praise their kings, or to use copper chisels to carve their pyramid stones. If they had focused on something else, or if they had succeeded in creating a genius work like this, and didn’t tell anyone their secret, those things would just be waiting somewhere out in the sand.

* * * * *

When Roger opened the door for Melissa and me at Barry’s apartment the next morning, having arrived just minutes before us, he had just one thing to say.

“He thinks he knows what it is.”

Chapter Six

“C
ome on,” I teased as we entered Barry’s apartment. “We’re all supposed to be out doing
paleo
stuff, not tinkering with strange machines. We should be digging up important things in the Florida mud.”

“But digging up an important thing in the mud is exactly what we did.” Barry beamed. “This machine is significant. I’m convinced of that.” He stood next to the strange bronze-colored contraption, arms folded across his chest.

Barry followed Melissa to the kitchen and grabbed a donut as she placed the box on the counter. “You’re in a good mood, Missy.”

“Dad’s staying ahead in the polls. Looks like smooth sailing for the next few weeks.”

“Nice. Daughter of the mayor. It has a ring to it. Will we have to call you ‘your highness’ or the First Daughter or something?”

She blushed a little. “I don’t know.”

“Well,” Barry turned with a flourish. “I’ve been inspecting our new toy all night. It’s not of our period.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at it.” Barry gestured at the machine. “There are no circuits or computer chips, not even vacuum tube bulbs! It has all these valves, like a steam engine, or some other sort of pressure system. It’s amazing. It’s either from very long ago or…”

I eyed the big bronze egg. “Or what?”

Barry shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s advanced. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“We’re stone cutters.” Roger leaned on the wall and stared at the machine. “How would we know anyway?”

Barry took a bite of his donut. “I’m telling you, I look at this thing and I know.” He chewed for a moment. “That’s why I had Findlay check it.”

“What!” Roger jumped up. “Chris Findlay? The computer geek? What’s he getting involved for?”

“Why not?” Barry shrugged. “What’s to fear?”

“It’s
our
discovery, Barry!” Roger’s face turned red. “You—you had no right to!”

“To what?” Barry cocked his head. “To get help? To seek an opinion from somebody who might know something? A minute ago you implied that very thing!”

Melissa waved her hand. “Slow down, boys. Barry’s right. We need expert eyes on this thing. People who’d know more about machines than us. Despite what Peeky saw at the mine yesterday…” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “…of the
machine
, it’s not just an old washer-dryer or bicycle built for two. But,” she turned back to Barry “you should have consulted us before getting anybody else involved. It’s not your toy, it’s our toy.”

Eyes cast downward, Barry nodded. “Point taken.”

She let him stew for a moment. “So? What did Findlay say?”

He grinned. “It blew his little computer geek mind. He’s never seen anything like it, either.”

I forced down my excitement. “How did you even get him here to look at it? It was after midnight when we left you.”

“I checked to see who might be up playing Warcraft. Those computer guys never sleep. He was online, so I called him.”

“And he dropped everything in the middle of the night to rush over?”

Barry nodded, munching on his donut. “Pretty much.”

“What did he think it was?”

“After checking over it with me for a few hours, Findlay and I are of the same opinion.” Barry wiped some sugar from the corner of his mouth and folded his arms, leaning back on his kitchen counter.

I stared at him. “Which is?”

“Well,” Barry seemed to enjoy the suspense but also appeared not quite sure how to tell us. “It appears that what we have here… is some sort of machine for moving through what Einstein referred to as the blanket of the time space continuum.”

“Oh, for…” Roger ran his hand over his face. “What the hell does that mean?”

“That means it’s a time machine.” Melissa gazed at the machine, her voice a whisper.

Barry nodded.

There was a long silence as we sat there, perplexed and amazed, looking at the odd, oval machine in Barry’s living room.

“Geez, what bullshit!” Roger laughed. “You had me going there for a second!”

Melissa didn’t blink. “Does it work?”

“Of course it doesn’t work.” Roger grabbed his head. “There’s no such thing as time travel. Even Einstein argued against it. This is some grad student’s attempt at stupidity, or a prank, or -”

He went on, but I could see she wasn’t listening. She was completely focused on Barry and his calm lack of an answer.

Against the backdrop of Roger’s protests, she asked Barry again. “Does it work?”

“Maybe.” A smile tugged at Barry’s lips.

That stopped Roger. “What?”

“Findlay is coming over again after class today.” Barry slid a hand along the oval frame. “I spent all night going over this thing, putting a reason behind every piece of technology I could see in front of me. Why
these
gauges, why
that
many knobs." He circled the machine. "The pieces started to come together in a strange pattern that I couldn’t recognize. Like the four blind monks who each felt a different part of the elephant, you know?” He sat down on the edge of his desk. “I needed somebody to look at the pieces and tell me what it said to them, in their area of expertise. So I started with Findlay.”

I didn’t understand. “A computer science whiz?”

“Findlay’s a computer engineer. He builds the things that drive the computers. I started with him, intending to go right down the line: computer science, engineering, physics, mathematics. But I got lucky. He and I started asking the same questions about what we were seeing, and after a while, there were only so many possible answers.”

Melissa stood and went over to the machine, placing her hand on its bronze skin.

Barry drummed his fingers on his thighs. “It’s really an amazing discovery.”

“Were you both smoking crack?” Roger walked up to Barry. “A time machine? Even if it does turn out to be real, the computer geeks will steal the whole thing out from under us. Their department has all the funding, too. They’ll make it their property and we’ll never see it again!”

Melissa appeared unconcerned. Her eyes never left Barry’s. “Do
you
think it will work?”

The smile crept back onto his face. “I do. So does Findlay.”

“Then you’re both crazy, Barry.” Roger paced around the room. “Or high.”

Melissa waved at him. “Roger, shut up for a second. Barry, give me your word: if we make this thing work, even with Findlay’s help, we keep it in our department. Paleontology.”

Barry folded his arms and eyed the machine. “I think Findlay’s too eager to understand the technology to consider pissing us off and never seeing it again. He’ll do whatever we ask.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay, then.” Melissa turned and dangled her car keys. “I’ve gotta get to class. We’ll look at it tonight – all of us – and make a decision.”

“About what?” I asked.

Barry answered for her, grinning. “About whether to go public with our findings, of course.”

Chapter Seven

“G
o public!” Roger’s face turned red. He pointed at the TV in the corner. “You mean, go embarrass ourselves on television and in the press?”

Melissa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s a good idea. It would mean headlines. National attention. On
our
program for a change. That could equate to some big funding.”

“Fame! Fortune!” Barry laughed.

“I don’t know about this.” Roger ran his hands through his hair and stared out the window. “Maybe.”

“Publicity.” Barry leaned on the couch. “What’s wrong with that?”

I couldn’t tell if Barry was playing with us or not. I certainly wasn’t going to ask. Keeping my mouth shut and my excitement under control was my best bet.

Roger walked over to him. “What’s wrong with publicity? Plenty. I know how your mind works. If you thought you could generate some buzz with a stunt, you’d do it. But something like this, so crazy sounding… it could blow up in our faces, man. Then we’re embarrassed on the national stage and lose the little funding we have.”

“Unless it’s a real time machine that actually works,” Melissa said. “Then, it’s a different story.”

Roger’s mouth hung open.

“Which is why we need to test it first.” Barry glanced around at us. “And to keep Findlay in the circle.”

“Geez.” Roger shook his head. “You mean keep him quiet.”

“Exactly.”

The scowl on Roger’s face grew larger. “He never should have been in the circle in the first place. That guy Findlay is a wild card.”

“Yeah.” Melissa sighed. “Why didn’t you call someone like Bill Cicero? Bill’s discreet.”

Barry’s mouth opened but he didn’t speak. He glanced at Melissa. “Cicero?” Then he recouped, shaking it off. “He’s… not taking classes this summer.”

“Then he’s just back home in Miami.” Roger threw his hands up. “That's a three hour drive. He would've come over here for something like this.”

Barry glared at him. “I made the decision.”

“It wasn’t your call to make!”

“Why not?” Barry said. “It’s my discovery.”

“What!” Roger’s eyes widened. “We were all there!”

“Were we?” Barry narrowed his eyes. “I found it. I’m the one who studied the topography and determined the dig site. Riff helped me dig it up. What did you do, Roger? I mean, besides get naked and try to get some with your ex?”

Roger would have punched him but Melissa beat him to it. She slapped Barry hard across the face. It sounded like a gunshot. Barry was caught off guard and fell back on his desk before he could catch himself.

Hell, it practically made
my
ears ring. I stepped between them. “Okay, okay, that’s enough.”

She stood, teeth gritted, cheeks turning red. I put my hand on her arm. “Melissa...”

Still glaring at Barry, she pulled her arm away and turned in a huff, storming off toward the kitchen.

Roger lowered his voice. “Barry, you had no right.”

“I did what I did.” Barry rubbed his cheek. “I was right. We never would have gotten anywhere without Findlay. You know that.” He glanced around. “But… I should have told you.”

I leaned forward to catch his eye. “No, you should have
asked
us.”

He nodded. “Okay. I should have asked. I got excited. It won’t happen again.” His eyes went to Melissa. “And I’m sorry about… my comment. It was rude. And stupid.”

Melissa heaved a heavy sigh, righting herself. “Okay. We’re decided. From now on, it’s a group decision on everything. We vote before we do anything.” She came into the living room and held out her hand to Barry. “Agreed?”

He took it and she helped him up. “Agreed.”

“Agreed,” I said. Time to reset the course and focus on the priorities.

“Fine.” Roger paced around the living room. “But you’re all forgetting something. We’re allowed to take rocks from the mine. Bones. Little crap like that. A machine like this is definitely out of bounds. The university will lay claim to it.”

“Plus, anything
over
a certain size or value, the state gets first claim on.” I sighed. “Not the school.”

“Or the university grabs all the good stuff first and it mysteriously disappears.” Roger resumed his pacing. “The rumor was that Dr. Anderson used to back door any significant finds to the bigger state universities. Now he's the Dean of the whole department." He glanced at Barry. "Remember freshman year? Lance Montague found that big mastodon skull down in New River and it practically never saw the light of day. Fucking Anderson swooped in and made some kind of a big thing out of it, and the next thing you know, it's off to a major corporation.” He looked around at us. “The paleontology department damn sure didn’t get any credit.”

“Which is why we have to keep it secret.” Barry sat back down on the edge of his desk. “We study it, check it all out, and then go public once we know everything there is to know. Then they can’t take it away from us. And there’ll be too much publicity to cut us out.”

Roger folded his arms. “Boy, you have it all figured out, don’t you Barry?”

“I don’t have anything figured out. I’m figuring it out right now, with you guys.”

“Except for calling Findlay in.” Roger leaned back on the window sill.

“Oh, will you let it drop!” Melissa shouted. “Findlay was a good call. He’s an asshole, but he’s a smart asshole. In fact, I can’t believe he went to class instead of staying here with you and working on it now. What gives?”

Barry smirked. “He would have stayed, but he’s administering an exam to a bunch of undergrads. Couldn’t get out of it no matter how hard he tried, the poor schmuck.”

“You played him.” Roger shook his head. “You brought him in when he’d have just enough time to help you, but without enough time to figure things all the way out. You baited the hook and played him, just like you’re playing all of us now.”

“Who’s playing you?” Barry got up. “Come on!”

Roger narrowed his eyes. “You kept the machine here, away from us. You studied it all night, and then you got Findlay involved. So are you guys partners now?”

Melissa stepped in. “You didn’t, did you Barry? You’re smarter than that, right?”

He looked away.

“Oh my God.” Roger jumped up. “You did partner with him! What did you promise him?”

The room fell silent as we waited for an answer. Barry dropped his gaze to the floor. Wincing like it hurt to get the word out, he gave his reply. “Half.”

“Half!” A vein on Roger’s forehead made itself visible. “Half of what?”

“Half of the technology rights.” Barry rubbed his neck. “Whether we can make it work or not.”

“Half! And the rest of us share the other half?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, you asshole!” Roger was steaming. He pounded his chest with his finger. “You had no right to give my share of anything.”

“Yes, I did,” Barry said. His voice was now more even, less emotional. “It was my find. My dig site. Hell, I’m the only reason any of us were even there!”

Melissa’s cell phone rang in her pocket. She checked it. “Shit, it’s Dean Anderson.”

“So what? He calls me sometimes for updates and stuff.” Barry shrugged. “Answer it.”

“Wait.” Roger eyed her. “He doesn’t call for no reason. What could he want?”

It rang again.

I was worried. “From what Roger said, if he finds out about the machine, it’s game over.” I glanced at Melissa. “We’ll never see it again. We’re finished before we even begin.”

Melissa held the phone with both hands as it rung a third time. “What do I do?”

“See what he wants,” Barry said, going to her. “But don’t tell him anything.”

Roger joined the huddle. “Try to sound relaxed.”

Melissa took a deep breath and pressed a button on her phone. “Good morning, Dr. Anderson.” She held the phone away from her ear and pressed the speaker button.

“Melissa, I’m glad I caught you. Just heard the good news about your dad. It’s all over the radio. We’re all pulling for him, the whole university staff.”

“Yes, sir. He knows it, and he appreciates it, too—your support.”

Noise permeated his words, like he called from a car. “Good, good. Well, anyway, I just got off the phone with an administrator from Shands hospital in Gainesville. Seems they got a radio distress call from your crew yesterday. Something about an accident?”

Barry nodded and gave a thumbs up, mouthing the words “Say ‘yes.’”

“Uh, that’s right, sir,” Melissa said. “We did radio Shands from the mine site yesterday.”

Roger put a hand to his forehead. Like calling 911, after he radioed Shands hospital about a possible drowning accident and then never showed up, Shands followed up to see what happened.

“I see.” Dean Anderson’s voice crackled over the cell phone. “Is everything okay? Nobody hurt, I hope.”

She looked at Barry, who shook his head.

“No. Nobody hurt.”

Anderson sounded like he was getting a little agitated. “Would it be asking too much for you to tell me what happened?”

“Not at all, sir. It was really nothing. Riff slipped on a hillside and went into the water, the retention pond. Roger called it in as a precaution.”

“Precaution! Seems a little extreme, doesn’t it? For a slip and fall?”

“Well, yes, in hindsight.” Melissa appeared to be getting her balance. “But with the safety protocols and all, we thought it best to call it in. And you know Roger.”

“Yes, I see…”

It was a good bluff. Since we ultimately checked Riff into University Community Hospital by the campus, it would seem to add up.

“Riff said he felt fine, but after we were halfway home, we could see he’d gotten pretty bruised up, so we took him to University Community. They admitted him.”

“Really?”

“Oh, for observation, they said. The doctor thinks Riff is probably fine. Just a little banged up, that’s all, and they want to be safe.”

“Okay.” Anderson cleared his throat. “Well, as you know there is some paperwork we need to fill out for that sort of thing…”

She nodded. “Oh, yes sir. In fact, I’m on my way over to see you. I wanted to get you up to speed and fill out the report.”

“Don’t rush. I did an overnight fundraising junket in Tallahassee and I’m still on my way back. Just be sure to get the reports filed in a day or so. And make sure to check in on Mr. Fellings.”

“I will.” Melissa hung up and exhaled, rubbing her forehead. “I think he bought it.”

Barry raised his eyebrows. “Well played, madam. Maybe there are two politicians in your family.”

Melissa bowed. “I was raised by a lawyer, so I know how to lie. Anyway, that solves one problem. Dean Anderson’s out of town for a while.”

“So he can’t swoop in and take the machine,” I said. “For a while, anyway. That’s good.”

Roger leaned forward and peered at me. “He can’t swoop in at all if he doesn’t know about it.”

“Right, right.” I nodded. “Sounds like everything’s all set. Except…”

Scowling, Roger glared at Barry again. “Except for that fucking wild card, Findlay.”

“Well,” Barry checked the clock on the wall. “That fucking wild card should be here any minute.”