The Time Sphere (26 page)

Chapter 39

It had been three days since Billy’s fight with his father.  Their ‘talk’ had not resulted in the hoped for outcome and as a consequence, Billy became distant and moody.  He knew in his heart that he wasn’t angry at his father, only his father’s lack of belief in him. 

As a result, Billy stopped tagging along with his father to watch him work in the lab, and he generally left Jeanie to her own devices.  He even ignored Heralds’ little verbal assaults, which he would have normally responded to with glee.  Dickens, who had been quiet since arriving here, was even more so.  Ya, it’s because he knows what I’m going through, he would muse contemptuously.  

Why was he the one who
had to deal with this garbage?   Why couldn’t he have been born in a normal house and this whole mess be someone else’s problem to deal with?  Dickens said he needed to come back here to fix the future, but he tried, and it didn’t work.  What else was he supposed to do?  How long would it be before his father opened that door?  What did Dickens expect, some James Bond stuff and blow it up? All he wanted to do was live peacefully with his dad.  But since the fight, Billy avoided him and his father wouldn’t look him in the eye.

The real hitch in Billy’s long term plan involved a conversation he heard between his father and Herald.  It was one thing that his father refused to listen to him, but there was more going on than he realized.

The day before, Billy was on the observation deck trying desperately to figure out what to do, but he still couldn’t think of anything.  He didn’t want to talk to Dickens, and he didn’t want to burden Jeanie.

As he gazed out into the murky water, he heard voices down the corridor.
  “…it may not be what you think.  They’re head of the project, after all,” said the familiar voice of Herald.

Billy
heard the sharp response of his father.  “I’m head of the project, Herald!  I was given complete autonomy!  What’s going on here?” he said with frustration.

“So they want a report, it’s no big deal.  They do pay the bills after all.”

“Yes, but they have never requested anything of this nature before,” replied Preston.

“Dr. Thorn, just do what they want and get them off our back!”

“I don’t think so!  This is my project, and it’s going to be done my way!  I will have nobody interfering!  What we’re dealing with is potentially dangerous.  I will not share sensitive information with the military, especially when the Sphere has nothing to do with their division!”

“So what do you want me to do? Ignore them!  Preston, you’re talking about the Inner Circle. 
Everything
is in their jurisdiction.” Herald replied.  His annoyed tone was now laced with fear.

“I was promised, Herald.  I was told this was my project.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing for now.
  Don’t worry, Herald, I’ll deal with them.” 

At that moment, Preston and Herald came around the corner.  When Preston saw Billy, he stopped in mid stride.  “Oh, Billy, I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“Hi, dad.  Hey, Herald.  So, what’s going on?” he asked casually.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” his
father coolly responded, as he continued to walk quickly down the corridor.

“I
t's beginning, isn’t it?” Billy asked softly.

Preston turned around to look at him. “I told you; I have it under control” he replied in a hard voice.

“No, I don’t think you do,” countered Billy quietly.  He just looked at his dad and then Herald and walked away.

His father had mentioned ‘others’ during their little talk.  And the military!  What did they have to do with this!  The Sphere was not going to stay under his father’s control whether he wanted it to
or not, Billy thought.  It didn’t matter if he convinced his father to dispose of the Sphere because it wouldn’t only be him that he had to convince. 

Billy was slowly realizing that the way to reach his goal may not be what he thought it was.  Only
, he didn’t think he could do it.

Billy was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling of his quarters with these thoughts when Dickens found him.  He heard someone enter his room and sit down.  He knew it wasn’t Jeanie because she would have jumped on his bed and hit him with a pillow.  It had to be Dickens.  Although Billy still felt a residual anger towards him, he was the person he needed to talk to most right now.

He sat up and stared at the old man calmly sitting on a plush chair by his bed.  “So, I guess you know what part of the story I’m at,” said Billy, returning Dickens steady gaze.  The old man just nodded his head without saying a word.

“Can you please just tell me what I’m supposed to do?  My dad won’t believe me!  I don’t know what to do, Dickens!” he pleaded.

Dickens continued to look at Billy evenly.  “No,” he said quietly.

Billy stood up, throwing his hands out. 
“Why not?” he shouted.

“I think you’re beginning to see why not.”

Billy’s anger melted away, his face crumbling as he shook his head.  “No, I’ve finally found the life that I want.  I’m not losing it!”

Dickens just folded his hands in his lap.  “Sometimes we don’t always get what we want, Billy.”

“Why not, some people do?”

“You’re not some people.”

Billy took the few steps necessary to reach Dickens, his fists clenched at his sides.  “It’s not fair!”

Dickens calmly looked up at the enraged boy and said, “Do you really want me to respond to that?”

Billy gazed deep into Dickens eyes for the first time in a long time.  “Do I ever get to see him again?  I mean when he knows it’s me.”

Dickens j
ust smiled.  “You’ll just have to find out, now won’t you.”  He then got up and walked out of the room.

Billy slowly walked down the shining corridors of the lab, his hands in his pockets and deep in thought.  Without meaning to, he walked in the direction of the laboratory’s mess hall. 

The familiar sound of Jeanie’s voice made him stop.  He peered in and noticed that the room was filled with different scientists who were stationed around the lab. 

At the end of a table, he saw Jeani
e sitting with Herald.  He felt a momentary pang of remorse.  He figured that by ignoring her for the past few days, he had forced her into Herald’s company.  However, as he gazed at the scene before him, he realized he was wrong.

“Jeanie, stop it!” the pointy faced man stated, while trying not to smile.

Jeanie was sitting across from Herald, trying to balance a spoon on her nose.  “Ok, Herald, you can create stuff that looks through walls, but come on, can you do this?” Not a moment later she squealed as the spoon fell and clattered onto the table.

“You and your childish games?” he replied in that snooty voice, but which also had a tinge of amusement in it.

Jeanie folded her arms and rested them on the table.  She lightly shook her head and her expression was one of sympathy.  “Admit it, Herald, my gravity defying talents are beyond you.  It’s ok,” she said, as she patted his hand.

Herald
squinted his eyes and pointed at her with his spoon.  “Excuse me, little missy, but I defied gravity when I invented anti-gravity hair spray!”

“Anti- gravity what?”

“Well, it’s not really a spray in the conventional sense.  You shoot a compacted air stream made up of various compounds which affect the air surrounding your head.  Anyway, your hair stands up on its own.  Do you know what spray bottles were doing to the ozone layer?”

Jeanie just at stared him, her left eyebrow cocked up and a look of disbelief on her face.

“Oh for-!  Give me that!” growled Herald, as he grabbed the spoon and placed it on his nose.

The room immediately erupted into cheers.  Jeanie fell into hysterics, rocking back and forth, clutching her stomach. 

Why was he surprised that Jeanie had brought Herald over to her way of seeing things.  Everywhere they went, everyone loved her instantly.  Archimedes may have had his own agenda, but Billy knew that Jeanie was a big reason why he came to their rescue.  She hadn’t even said a word to Georgii for him to become hopelessly enamored with her and even Rene was spellbound.  It made sense to Billy now.  She didn’t have to try to see the good in people; it just came naturally, so people in turn instantly saw it in her. 

Billy didn’t know how he could have gone through what he did without her.  She told him off when he needed it and backed him up when he needed it.  She and Dickens were the first people in his life t
hat he let see who he truly was; the good, bad and the ugly.  He was truly himself and they didn’t despise him for it.  In fact, in doing so, he came to see the good in himself too. 

Billy now knew that in this life you need friends to back you up.  And if he did what he was thinking about doing, he would need them more
than ever before.  His fear of losing people he cared about began to resurface, but Billy forced it down.  He’d been missing out in life, and since his adventures from the time he left Pine St, he knew he could never go back.

Billy still felt overwhelmed by the decision he had to make.  He was beginning to understand the task assigned to him and it wasn’t to convince his father to stop his work on the Time Sphere.  It wasn’t fair that he finally found what he searched his whole life for, only to give it up.  However, if there was one lesson he learned, it was that life was a choice and sometimes we have to make the difficult one. 

The thought suddenly struck Billy.  If Dickens had brought him straight to his father from Pine St, he would never have considered what he now knew he needed to do.  He was ashamed to admit he was the selfish boy that Dickens said he was.  He had only ever considered his own hurts and his own losses. 

Billy realized that this was a decision only he could make, without the help of Dickens.  That was why Dickens did what he did.  He had to bring Billy to the place where he would think of others before
himself, where he would have the courage to do what’s right.   That was a lesson he would never have learned if he had not travelled to the places he did and met the people he had.

He wanted to laugh when he thought about crazy Archimedes, who made him see that the impossible was possible.  He smiled as he remembered
the water rushing to his face as he jumped into the sea.  He never thought he would ever do something like that! 

Then there was Leonardo, whose lo
ve for those annoying fur balls helped him learn that friendships are necessary, no matter how long they last.

Georgii.
  What else was there to say?  That name would always be synonymous with courage, doing what’s right and in the end just doing the best you can with what you’ve been given. 

Billy held his head up high.  Gone were his doubts about what he had to do.  Something needed to be done and he was the only one who could do it. 

Billy’s gaze returned to the happy scene before him.  He smiled as he watched Herald roar with laughter as a colleague was attempting to outdo him, balancing a spoon precariously on his nose. 

Just then, Billy caught Jeanie’s eye.  She smiled and waved him over to join them. 

So he did.

Chapte
r 40

“Dad,” Billy said, as he stood behind his father, who was hunched over analyzing some kind of data.

“Mmmmm,” was the man’s only reply, still focused on his work and not looking up from his papers.

“Dad!”
Billy repeated with more force.

His father looked up at him with a startled expression.  “What is it?  Is something wrong?” he asked with concern in his voice.  “I really think we should talk about our argument the other day.  I’m sorry for my part-”

Billy didn’t smile as he looked down at his father and fought to keep his mind focused on what he needed to say.  “I need to leave.”

Preston’s brows furrowed as he gazed at his son in confusion.  “What?  No, you don’t!  I told you, I’m sorry for what I said.  Don’t worry about the Sphere, we’ll work it out.”

Billy took a deep breath, determined to make his father believe him, believe in him. “I do.  The Sphere isn’t safe here, too many people know about it.”  His voice was firm.

Preston
swiveled around in his stool and stared at his son dumbfounded.  Billy looked his father straight in the eye and said in a voice full of resolve, “I’m returning to my own time, and I’m taking your Device with me.”

“You can’t be serious!  You shouldn’t have heard me talking with Herald!  Besides, the door is here, and you can’t take that with you.”

“That you can destroy.  I’ll keep the Device.  You know that other than you, I’m the only one who’ll know I have it.”

His father appeared speechless; his expression rapidly changing to one of anger.  “No, I’m not losing you again!”

Billy looked down at his father, knowing exactly how he felt.  He sat down beside him and put his hand on his father’s shoulder.  “I don’t want to go, but it’s something I have to do.  This is why I had to come here.”  His voice was soft, and his eyes pleading for Preston to understand.

“But…” was all his father could say, the words
failing him and his gaze drifting to the ground.

Suddenly, a voice came out of a communication link.  “Dr. Thorn, an important message from Command, sir.”

Preston gazed tiredly at the link and rubbed his forehead.  “Please, tell them that I’ll contact them later.”

The voice hesitated before continuing, “But sir…it’s him.”

Billy wondered at the peculiar way, the voice said
him
.  His curiosity was further aroused at his father’s reaction to this statement.  Preston’s head shot up, and he looked immediately in Billy’s direction. 

“Quickly, behind the device unit,” his father commanded in a harsh whisper.

Billy ran and hid behind the large black tank that hooked up to the Device.  Almost instantly, the silver paneling on the wall vanished, only to reveal a man in a black uniform.

“Well, Preston,” stated the man brusquely.  Billy couldn’t figure out if that was a greeting or a question.

Billy peeked from his hiding place.  As he stared at the man on the screen, Billy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  The stranger wore a black shiny uniform.  Nothing adorned it, but a silver symbol covering the upper right side of his chest.  It was a circle, surrounding another, with a solid triangle in the center.

“Hello, General Shank.  It’s been a long time.” Preston was trying to control his voice, but Billy could hear the fear behind his words.

Who was this man?  A general?  Who did his father work for? The military?  Billy returned his gaze to the chilling man on the screen.  Was he a part of this Inner Circle he heard Herald mention?

“You know
, Preston; I do like to be kept in the loop.  But I’ve been hearing that your laboratory isn’t sharing everything with their superiors.”  The stranger’s voice was deceivingly calm; only his hard ice blue eyes revealed any emotion.

An expression of confusion replaced the one of fear on Preston’s face. “What are you talking about, General?”

“Don’t play me for a fool, Preston!” the General spat into the screen. “Did you actually think that we would not hear about your unexpected guests?  Did you actually think that all communication ends with you?”  The General smiled as he stared at Preston with hooded eyes.

“I assure you, The Inner Circle always know what’s going on.  Is it true?  He is your son?”

Preston’s eyes widened with surprise at the man’s words.  “Yes, but-”

“Interesting.
  We’ve been waiting for something like this for some time,” the General mused.

“What are you talking about?  How do you know what happened to Billy?” Preston angrily demanded.

The General laughed softly. “I told you, we always know what’s going on.  You are working on the greatest project in human history.  Did you really think we wouldn’t know of every occurrence involving it?”

“Why wasn’t I told?”

“Quite frankly, the incident with your son worked in our favor.  Your dedication to the Sphere became unparalleled and you brought us years ahead of schedule.”

Preston gazed at the man with a look of horror. 

“Oh, Preston, please!  We’ve given you everything you wanted.  Unlimited access to the Time Sphere.  Unlimited funds at your desposal.  And now, you have what you always wanted, to see your son again,” said the General, his voice almost kind.

Preston began to shake his head. “General, there has been new information.  It seems that the Sphere may cause some kind of problems in the
fut-”

“We don’
t care, Preston.  You have one job and we suggest you do it.  I think you need to remember who’s in charge here.  You may be the one giving orders down there, but don’t forget who you answer to.”   The General’s expression was once again closed and glacial.

The man was about to end communication,
only to stop and turn to once again look at Preston.  A slight smile was upon his lips as he said, “By the way, I would like to meet this son of yours.  Billy is it?” he asked in a casual manner.  “Yes, I’ll be coming to the lab to make sure that everything is going according to plan.  While I’m there, I’d like to meet your Billy and his companion too, of course, the old man.  Yes, I’m very interested.  So please, Preston, ensure the boy is there when I arrive.  That isn’t a request.”  The General finished with a tone that said he was not to be disobeyed.

As abruptly as the man came
on the screen, he left.  Preston just stood still in the middle of the lab.  Billy slowly emerged from his hiding spot, his eyes still on the silver panels where the General had been not seconds before.

Billy knew that something was wrong. 

“Dad?”

Preston turned to face his son.  His brow was furrowed and he didn’t meet his son’s curious gaze.  He just rubbed his cheek and his eyes were wide with fear.

“Something’s not right.  I rarely receive direct communication with a member of the Inner Circle.  Why the concern over the project?  Development is good, we’re on schedule.”  Preston turned to stare at Billy.  “Why the interest in you and the old man?  How do they know about what happened to you and where you came from? It’s like they knew you would come back,” Preston stated with a mystified expression on his face.

Billy watched as his father began to pace about the room.  All he could do was
stare at him while trying to get a handle on his own feelings of dread. 

“What’s going on, Dad?  Who was that guy?  And what’s the Inner Circle?” he asked, his faced filled with alarm.

Preston stopped pacing, placed his hands in his pocket and let out a long breath.  “They are, well, ultimately my superiors on the project.”

“Who?
  The military?  This General must be military, but this ‘Inner Circle’ sounds like a secret club or something?”

“Not many know about the Circle and its position of power in our government.  I only know the little I do due to my position in the Sphere Project.  From what I know, they’re the ones who make the real decisions high in our government.  You have to understand, Billy, the world is no longer the democra
tic place you left.  The world is in crisis and quick decisions had to be made.  These decisions are made by a ruling minority and the population no longer has any political rights to agree or disagree with them.   But we’ve survived as long as we have because of the Circle.”

Preston ran his fingers through his hair, his expression displaying his growing fear.  “I’ve always supported them.  It’s always been implied that our situation is temporary and our political rights would be returned to us once we found a solution to earth’s problems.  I believed we found our solution with the Sphere.”

Preston turned to face Billy and gazed at him for a long moment.  A tenderness warmed his eyes and he said, “Before you were born, I was totally devoted to my work.  I was going to use science to change things; make the world a better place.  Your mother,” he said as his eyes glowed, “she understood that and supported me in every way.” 

The joyful radiance began to fade as he continued.  “But then you were taken.  I threw myself into my work in order to forget, and then I lost your mother and the pain was more than I could bear.  Nothing existed but the Time Sphere and what it was going to mean to mankind.  All my energy went into this endeavor, until I had nothing more to give to anything else.  But
, I suppose that was the point.” 

Preston looked out into
space and didn’t speak.  He turned to look at Billy, the love he had for his son shining in his eyes.  “When I lost you I was devastated and my work was only a shallow replacement.  I see that now.”

He
closed his eyes in regret and continued in a voice thick with emotion, “I was blinded to what was going on around me.  All I could see was fulfilling my goal.  I thought I was doing the right thing.  It’s one of the reasons I dedicated my life to the Project.   It meant freedom, the freedom to make choices for ourselves.  I never had cause to worry about the Circle before.  I thought their agenda was the same as mine.” 

Billy couldn’t imagine how he ever had envisioned his father as the evil mastermind to Earth’s downfall.  All he saw before him was a good man.  But a man devastated by the knowledge of the mistakes he had made because of his blindness.

Billy placed a gentle hand on his father’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “Dad, I learned about a guy named Adolf Hitler from World War II.  He did the same thing; made everybody believe that he was going to fix all their problems.  But when you give someone total control, they can’t help but do things the way they think things should be done.  If I’ve learned anything from the people I’ve met because of the Sphere, it’s that you need to be accountable to others and willing to listen and learn new ideas or everything becomes about you.  Your wants and needs.  What if this Circle’s plan doesn’t have anything to do with the people of Earth anymore?”

Billy watched as the look of anguish slowly left his father’s eyes and was replaced with one of fear, a fear that only comes with a dreadful and sure realization. 

Preston placed his hands on a nearby table, grasping the edges so tightly his knuckles turned white.  Suddenly he lifted his head and stared hard into his sons eyes.  “Billy, listen to me!” Preston urgently demanded.   “You were right, you need to take the Device and return to your own time!”  Preston put his hands on Billy’s shoulders.  “Just to be safe, we need to get you out of here.  You have to leave, Billy, as soon as possible.”

Once again, Billy felt the fear of the unknown.  But this time, it wasn’t a danger coming from millions of miles away, but right here on Earth.  Billy felt in his bones that although taking the Sphere would change the devastation of the distant future, it would also create a new tangent in the time stream. 
A tangent involving a new adversary.  One wearing a black uniform and who was as human as he. 

Something was unfolding and he knew that his part in this adventure was far from over.  The beings were now never going to invade earth, but Billy knew in his soul that the General was a far worse opponent.  The General frightened Billy to his core.

The only thing he could do at that moment was ensure the safety of the Device. Everything up until that point had happened for a reason, so why shouldn’t his arrival in the future be any different?  For whatever reason, this was the life he was given, for better or for worse.  Billy couldn’t whine and complain anymore about the part he was to play in the events unfolding.  He just needed to be ready to do what needed to be done when he was called to do it.

Billy looke
d hard into his father’s eyes and with a curt nod of his head, he said, “I’ll get the others.”