The Time Sphere (23 page)

Chapter 34

Billy was sitting on a grassy hill, watching the day end as the sun began its journey toward the horizon.  His expression was solemn and his eyes red from angry tears.  He saw Jeanie approach out of the corner of his eye and he turned his head so she couldn’t see his tear streaked face.

“Billy, are you ok?” Jeanie timidly asked as she sat down.

“I’m fine, Jeanie. Did Dickens tell you?”  His tone was clipped and cold.

She rested her head on her knee, as she slowly let out a breath.  “Ya, I’m not really surprised though looking back, you know.”

Billy yanked out a fistful of grass.  “Why did he think he needed to lie to us?”

She turned her head to face Billy.  “Dickens said that this is the way things needed to happen, were meant to happen.”

Billy whipped his head around to look at her for the first time.  “Jeanie, don’t defend him!” he bit out, his voice sterner than he intended.

Both became silent as they continued to sit on the grassy knoll, looking up at the setting sun.  Billy didn’t know how to feel at this point.  He knew that logically Jeanie was right, but he felt so betrayed by Dickens.  How can he continue to the end knowing what he knew?  How could he look Dickens in the face knowing what he had done to him?  As he sat there, he felt that his life’s beliefs were justified because Dickens proved that people will always disappoint you in the end.

Billy just wanted to go home.  However, if there was anything good that came out of all of this, it was his friendship with Jeanie.  She was the only person in the whole world who he cared
about what they thought of him and didn’t want to disappoint. 

He decided he would finish this with Dickens.  He didn’t know where they were going or what he had to do, but he would do this for Jeanie.  He felt an overwhelming need for he
r to get home safely.  She was there because of him, after all. 

He stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants.  He looked down into her face and held out his hand.  “Ok, let’s get this done.”

The travelers said their farewells to Rene Descartes.  Billy had really liked the entertaining Frenchman, he thought with a little smile.  They quietly exited the military camp and wandered into a nearby forest, so not to be seen disappearing into thin air.  Billy hadn’t spoken to or looked Dickens in the eyes since he returned to the tent after their confrontation.  

Billy just wanted whatever he needed to do to be done and over with so he could go home and never see Dickens again.  Billy was determined that if had to see his young self someday in the future, he would never do what Dickens did.  He would be honest and let the kid know everything.  Maybe adults need to have a little more faith in us sometimes, Billy scowled to himself.  He silently promised he would never turn into such
a jerk. 

The three travelers stood side by side. 
“Everyone ready?” Dickens asked. 

Both children just nodded in agreement.  Then, in an instant, the world was gone.

The tiny group opened their eyes to find themselves on a cold hard metal surface and in a very dark room.  Billy allowed himself the few minutes he needed to re-orient himself, due to the surreal feeling he experienced whenever he left the Sphere.

As Billy’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out softly illuminated glass jars lining the walls.  Silver tubes and cables protruded from them, but he could not see what they contained. 

As Billy scanned the room looking for a door, a voice came out of the darkness.  “Who’s there?  Is that you, Herald?”  The voice was mechanical, but there was also a touch of human expression to it. 

“What is it, Conrad, who’s there?” asked another mechanical voice.  This one, however, was of a higher pitch.

“I don’t know, Richard, they won’t show themselves,” the voice said, sounding frustrated. 

S
uddenly, the room came alive with numerous mechanical voices talking at once.

As Billy continued to try and locate a door, he noticed Jeanie walking slowly toward the voice. 

“Who’s there?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“What do you mean?  It’s Conrad!  Are you a new scientist?”

“My name is Jeanie,” she said, as she moved closer. 

Billy began to feel nervous butterflies
form in his stomach.  He moved toward Jeanie, wanting to steer her away from the voices.  But as he reached her side, he was close enough to see into one of the jars.  Jeanie took in a sharp breath and all Billy could do was stare at the bizarre and unnatural contents of the glass container.  Inside, was a grey and pulsating human brain floating in a thick clear fluid.  Billy couldn’t stop himself from moving closer.

“What? You look like you’ve never seen a floating brain before?”
The abrupt question caused Billy to jump back.

With wide eyes, he whispered, “Well, no
, I haven’t, actually.”

“Then wh
at are you doing in this room?  We’re a part of a top security project!” inquired the high pitch voice.

The brain to the left of Billy spoke out in a pleasant and chee
rful manner.  “Don’t mind him.  He’s always uppity like that.  He’s gotten a little vain due to our top secret status.  I’m Conrad and snooty pants over there is Richard.”

“Of all the…” gasped an affronted Richard.

“Oh, get over it, Richard!  We don’t get a lot of visitors.  Well, the kind that likes to sit and chat for a while, anyway.  Usually, the scientists just come in here and write down their data and leave.  Well, except Dr. Thorn, he’s real nice.” 

Billy felt a jolt at hearing his father’s name.  The reality that he was goin
g to see him soon was beginning to sink in.

“Why are you all like this?” Jeanie asked with awe in her voice.

“Man is about to achieve their greatest challenge!  The answer they have been searching for since the dawn of civilization!  The most momentous-”

“We’re here to see how long the human brain can live
without a body,” replied Conrad flatly.

“How dare you!  I was speaking!” yelled Richard in a huff.

“If we let you give all of the explanations, we’d have to listen to you for hours,” countered Conrad.  “Not that I don’t have a lot of time on my hands.  Well, figuratively speaking anyway.”

“Why is
knowing how long a brain can live so important?” Billy asked.

“What?” yelped Richard, only to be cut off again by
Conrad.

“We’re a part of an experiment.  They're trying to figure out how long a brain can live.  But they’re not having as much luck with the human body.”

“The scientists are on the brink of discovering the key to immortality,” said Richard with glee at getting to the punch line before Conrad.  “I have lived in this existence for 56 years, 142 if you count my life before.  I gave my brain to the experiment, which I am entirely responsible for creating,” Richard stated proudly.

“I just gave up my body to science.  If I had known that I was going to end up in a jar, I would have checked off no on my donor card,” said Conrad, his mechanical voice tinged with regret.

“You are not worthy to be a part of such greatness!  It is I who has had to listen to your belly aching for the past 23 years!”

“Ya, well, when all you can do is think, it gets to be pretty boring.”

“Oh, Conrad,” said Jeanie with sympathy.  “If you don’t want to be here, why don’t you say something?”

“I just figure that being a brain in a jar has to be better than being none at all.  It’s just that, all I’ve thought about is food since I’ve been in here.  If I had a mouth, I’d be drooling over a slice of cheese pizza right now.”

“Cheese Pizza!  You don’t have a stomach, you fool!” shouted Richard.

“Well, it’s your brain that tells you you’re hungry!” Conrad countered.  “You know when someone loses an arm and they feel phantom pains?  I think I get phantom hunger pains,” he lamented to Billy and Jeanie in a depressed voice.

“You have all this time to ponder the mysteries of the universe, but you think about food!  What a waste!” snorted Richard.

“I’m sorry, Conrad,” offered Jeanie.

“Um, me too, Conrad and it’s been really nice talking to you, but do you think you could help us?  Do you know where the door is?  We’re in a bit of a hurry.”   Billy felt really bad for the guy, but he knew they couldn’t waste anymore time.

“Oh, it’s on the wall directly in front of me,” replied Conrad helpfully.

“Wait a minute!  Why are you here?  You don’t know us or your way around!” accused Richard.

“We…Um…we just…came for a visit,” said Billy nervously.

“A visit!  You are not supposed to be here.  I know who you are, you are thieves!  Intruders!” yelled Richard.

“Wait, we’re not thieves!  We just want to talk to Dr. Thorn!”

“Oh, of course you do!  Intruders!” Richard yelled, which would have been at the top of his lungs if he had any.

“We need to get out of here now!” bellowed Billy, running to the other side of the room. 

As the trio felt the wall for the door, Richard continued to scream for help.  Finally, Billy felt a cold metal frame and the door promptly opened, sliding into the wall. 

As they ran through the exit, Billy could hear Conrad call, “Come back and chat sometime, ok.”  Then the door closed, cutting off any sound from the room behind them. 

A horrible stench immediately filled Billy’s nostrils.  This is even worse than the rabbits! he thought.  The travelers looked around them in stunned silence as they gazed at mountainous piles of rotting garbage filling an enormous room.  Some of it was being boiled in large vats, with large metal rods sticking out of it.  Other piles were being squished in between huge sheets of metal.

“Oh, it’s so gross in here!” exclaimed Jeanie, as she held her nose.

“Let’s go, we need to find my dad!” Billy yelled, as he raced to the door at the other side.

They entered a brightly lit room with shelves lining the walls.  They were filled with glass containers and all of them had neat white labels on the front.  Suddenly, a loud alarm began to sound and red lights were flashing about the room.

“They know we’re here!  Thanks a lot, Richard!” Billy ranted.

“They’
re going to come through that door any second!” screamed Jeanie in a panic stricken voice.

“Let’s move a shelf in front of the door, maybe it’ll slow them down.  Come on, Dickens!” urged Billy, who suddenly noticed that Dickens had been uncharacteristically silent since they arrived in the future. 

All three of them grabbed the nearest shelf and began moving it toward the door.  However, the shelf became unstable as they moved it away from the wall and the glass jars began to fall to the ground around them.

“Keep moving!” yelled Billy. 

However, as he pushed, the side of his face started to feel funny and then it began to itch horribly.

“Billy, Dickens, something’s wrong!” Jeanie cried out. 

Billy watched in horror as Jeanie’s skin began to turn a bluish, green color and scaly before his eyes.  Jeanie tore her eyes from her own mutating flesh to look up at him.

“Oh my God!
  Billy, your face!”

Instantly, Billy’s hand flew to his face.  The right side of it was grotesquely puffed out and it was still growing.  He felt his ear and he thought it might be half a foot long.  His eye was as big as a baseball. 

A gasp from Jeanie brought his attention back to her.  She was now lying on the ground, her legs no longer legs, but a long and scaly fish tale flopping around in her dress.  Billy looked to Dickens, who seemed to be curiously observing his hands.  His fingers were now about two feet long.  A loud bang returned Billy’s thoughts back to whoever was after them.

“We need to get out of this room now!” he shouted. 

Billy and Dickens hoisted Jeanie up onto their shoulders, each carrying an end and ran through the opposite door.  Billy had to use his left side, because the right side of his face was now past his shoulder.  Dickens had a hard time holding Jeanie with his long fingers, but he managed.

They raced through a room about the size of a football field.  Red lights were flashing along the wall and there was a half built framed structure spanning the length of the enormous chamber.  As they approached the door, men in black uniforms en
tered the room on the opposite side. 

The door before them slid open to reveal a long silver paneled hallway.  As they raced down the corridor, men in white coats stopped to stare at them as they ra
n by.  Their expressions turned to horror as they watched Billy’s distorted face jiggle as he ran. 

They escaped through a doorway leading into another room.  As he entered, Billy frantically looked for an exit, but there was none. 

He looked around the odd space and decided they were in some kind of laboratory.  There was computer equipment everywhere and large monitors covered the long tables on each side of the great room. There were small machines that looked like some type of microscope, scattered about the tables.  Enormous copper piping came out high on the wall, leading into the floor.  The floor and wall paneling was the same metallic material as the hallway.