Touchstone (Meridian Series) (39 page)

       Paul would think of something, he hoped, as
he finally sped through the Tunnel and reached the off ramp he always took when
he came this way. He needed more music, and reached for that CD he had made
with the favorite songs of a group he had discovered some years ago, a band
called Porcupine Tree. The ethereal strains of the music surrounded him now—
“Never
stop the car on a drive in the dark.”
That sounded like good advice in a
storm like this, he thought.
“Never trust the sound of rain upon a river
rushing through your ears…”
  Somehow the words jogged a distant memory, but
he could not grasp it.

       The hunger in his stomach had grown to
become unbearable, so, in spite of the rain and lateness of the hour, he simply
had to stop and pick up something to eat. There was a 7-11 near the off ramp
and, as he started to accelerate again, a strange thought came to him that
there was someone on the road ahead, the barest flutter in his awareness. He
moved to cover the brake but saw the way was clear, so he drove on. An odd
sensation of
déjà vu
came upon him, woven amid the guitars of the band. The
lyric seemed to mock him:
“Ever had the feeling you've been here before?”

       He had a sudden flush of adrenaline, an
anxious sensation that he could not account for. It made him strangely light
headed, keenly aware of his surroundings, and alive in a way that was
exhilarating. He had the odd feeling that he was supposed to do something, but
could not think of what it was.

       The Subaru rolled into the parking lot of
the 7-11 and came to a halt. He was very late but, with any luck, he would get
to Nordhausen’s study by 9:30 p.m. He sat for a moment, trying to collect
himself and dispel the strange notion that he had just missed something, or
forgotten something of the greatest importance, though he could not think of
what it was. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call the others,
but came up empty.

       “Great. Now where is my cell phone?” Then he
remembered the phone booth just outside the 7-11, and he opened the car door as
the driving guitars of the music ended, slipping out in the interval of quiet between
tracks. Just then, a car came skidding around the corner, careening wildly out
of control on the rain slick pavement. He saw it coming, yet was frozen, unable
to move, riveted to this place and time by some power that he could not impede
in any way. The car struck him a hard blow, knocking him against a metal road
sign where he hit his forehead as he fell.

       He was stunned, but reached up, by reflex,
and felt the trickle of blood on his forehead. A feeling of exhilaration
returned again, with strange whispers in his head. What were they saying?

      
“…the future depends on Right and
Justice… The Day must come when Discord must finally cease, and the Peace of
God and his command are all in all… For truly, God’s will flows freely, like these
rains fall down upon us now from a darkened sky. We have but to tune our will
to His—the ever-living Righteous God…But Oh, for the joy of being found worthy
to bear the torch and to say to our brethren: ‘I too was in darkness,
comfortless, and behold, I have found comfort and Joy in the Grace Divine.”

       Why those words came to him just then, he
could not fathom, only that he knew them, and he had heard them spoken to him
somewhere, long ago.

       A sudden moment of clarity came to him, and
now he knew this place, this time, to a fullness. He had been here before! The
first time, a man had stepped from the shadows and rain, and he remembered how
he had slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting him. That moment’s delay, that bare
whisper in eternity, had changed things. But now they were set back again—back
on the Meridian he was born to, and this was the moment he had been spared
before, a time that was to be his last.

       Palma had happened, he knew. The mountain
collapsed into the sea, just as the light in his head now seemed to collapse to
a fine point where he lay on the hard cold pavement. For the briefest moment he
wondered what would happen to the world now—the world he tried to carry on his
shoulders, though he stumbled, and fell.

       He cold not think about that… no time for that
now… No time for any of it: that first mission to the Hejaz, Nordhausen and his
antics in the Arch, Paul’s lost venture in the Well of Souls, the King of
Diamonds, and Maeve, dear Maeve. There was no time left now at all. These
images of future days he would now never live seemed to emerge like fireflies
in his mind, and then die.

        Strangely, he smiled, rolling to his side
so his face turned upward into the rain. He felt the cold water on his
forehead, and knew that nothing had been changed. The world was restored,
without his life traded for a future that was never meant to be.

     Music was playing now, a solemn piano as the
next song began on his CD player in the Subaru. The sound was fading… fading…
“Collapse
the light into earth…. Collapse the light ….”
It gave him great comfort as
he held the meaning of the words in his heart—here at the beginning, and the
end, of all that he ever knew.

TIME
GLOSSARY

From
Dorland’s Theory

CLARITY
–
Clear or good understanding of a temporal locus, pattern, event,
Outcome
or
Consequence
.

CONSEQUENCE
– An
undesired result achieved by a temporal
Transformation
– Usually
referring to the negative (i.e.) Sometimes certain
Consequences
must be
accepted in order to achieve a desired
Outcome
.

CONVOLUTION
– The
relative difficulty or complexity of a given temporal event or condition.

DEEP NEXUS
–
Sometimes called a “Void” – A crucial, significant
Nexus Point
where
radical alteration of the time line is possible.

DENSITY
– A
relative term describing factor counts in temporal events.

FACTOR
– An
element contributing to convolution in temporal events.

FINALITY
– A
catastrophic
Grand Imperative
(like the Cuthulu asteroid strike that led
to the eradication of the dinosaurs and other life.)

FREE RADICAL
– A
dangerous, erratic variable in the course of temporal events – usually only
existing within a
Deep Nexus.

GREAT VOID
– An
interminable shadow or
Penumbra
cast by a
Grand Imperative
.

HAZE
–
Obscurity in the understanding of a temporal situation or event.

IMPERATIVE
– An event
in Time which
must
happen – Usually a natural event. A
Grand
Imperative
is a natural event of special significance. Some Grand
Imperatives can become a
Finality
.

INEVITABILITY
– A
progression of events that is inexorable and unalterable.

INITIATOR
– A
person directly responsible for a new
Time Meridian
(Like Mohammed, or
Christ). A
Prime Mover
of great significance.

LEVER
– A
secondary contributor to movement in a series of events.

MERIDIAN
– An
established line of temporal events on the continuum.

NEXUS POINT
– A
point of connection, intersection or branching of one or more
Meridians
in the Time continuum.

NODE
– A
specific point on a
Time Meridian.

OUTCOME
– A
desired result achieved by a temporal
Transformation
– Usually referring
to the positive.

PARADOX
–
Time’s way of correcting errors in the Time continuum. Paradox is a real force,
and quite dangerous. It kills or erases people and objects from the
Time Meridian
when unaccountable complications arise from their actions. A Paradox is NOT simply
a thorny problem, it is a real effect and force of annihilation. A kind of
“Anti-Time”

PENUMBRA
– The
shadow of influence on future events cast by an
Imperative
.

POINT OF ORIGIN
– The
temporal locus where a person or object becomes a
Prime Mover.

PRIME MOVER
– A
primary causative lever or agent for an event – usually a person but sometimes
an object.

PUSH POINT
– A
moment of insignificance that gives rise to a key event on a
Time
Meridian
.
Often associated with a
Prime Mover
.

QUANTUM KARMA
– The
influence of causality on a
Time Meridian
. Each moment on the Meridian
affects the next, and certain Prime Movers accumulate an aura of Quantum Karma
around them that also has profound effects on the configuration of future
moments in Time.

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION
– A
catastrophic alteration of the
Temporal Condition.

TEMPORAL CONDITION
– The
matrix, pattern or state of affairs in a given time period.

TRANSFORMATION
– Any
change in a
Time Meridian
that alters a future
Temporal Condition
.

TRANSFORMER
– A
person who causes a
Transformation
.

VARIATION
– A
subtle change in a
Time Meridian
that does not significantly alter
Temporal
Conditions
.

WILLFUL EVENT
-
Events resulting from decisions or actions taken by human beings

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The
Meridian Series

Novels By John Schettler

ForeWord Magazine’s

“Book of the
Year”

2002 Silver Medal Winner
for Science Fiction

Book I

Meridian
– A Novel In Time

The adventure begins on the
eve of the greatest experiment

ever attempted—Time Travel.

As the project team meets
for their final mission briefing, the last member, arriving late, brings
startling news. Catastrophe threatens and the fate of the Western World hangs
in the balance. But a visitor from another time arrives bearing clues that will
carry the hope of countless generations yet to be born.

Book II

Nexus Point

In
this compelling sequel to the award winning novel
Meridian
, the project
team members slowly come to the realization that a “Time War” is being waged by
unseen adversaries in the future.

The
quest for an ancient fossil leads to an amazing discovery hidden in the
Jordanian desert. A mysterious group of assassins plot to decide the future
course of history, just one battle in a devious campaign that will span the
Meridians of time, both future and past

Book
III

Touchstone

When
Nordhausen follows a hunch and launches a secret time jump mission on his own,
he uncovers an operation being run by unknown adversaries from the future.
The incident has dramatic
repercussions for Kelly Ramer, who’s place in the time line is again threatened
by paradox.
Kelly’s fate is somehow
linked to an ancient Egyptian artifact, once famous the world over, and now a
forgotten slab of stone. The result is a harrowing mission to Egypt during the
time frame of Napoleon’s 1799 invasion.