A World Without Secrets by Thomas DePrima Read Free Book Online Page B

let me live this long?"
    I returned to my kitchen and paced frantically as I considered my options. I decided I had just two. I could either destroy the device and get rid of whatever was left or keep it and live in fear for as long as I had it. I knew that if I was smart, I would do as the two emails had advised. I would destroy the viewer before someone destroyed me to get it. But while it was easy to say 'destroy it,' it was not so easy to actually do it. How could anyone simply destroy the greatest technological wonder of all time? How could I deprive mankind of all the benefits it offered? Yet, how could I prevent mankind from abusing the power of the device and destroying itself? On a personal level, how could I own it and stay alive?
    I finally plopped heavily into the chair, my decision made.
    I grinned wryly as I said aloud, "I can't tell anybody about this if I want to survive. How about that, Colton? You've just found the greatest technological wonder of the world, and you can't tell anyone about it. You can't even write about it because someone might put two and two together."
    I had to refocus my mind, so I reached out to the viewer and entered 2060 into the year keypad. The image changed to static.
    "Does that mean I can't see the future or that there will be no future because the world has destroyed itself?"
    Changing the year to 2020 presented a similar screen of static, so I reset it to the present year and changed the month value to the next month. Static still filled the screen. Lastly I changed the time on the keypad to just two minutes ahead. Again, only static filled the viewer. Either the world came to an end in one minute or I couldn't see into the future, only the past and present.
    "Guess I won't be getting rich through the stock market, at the track or by winning the lottery."
    As the present caught up to the time I'd entered into the keypad, an image suddenly materialized on the viewer. I was again seeing the scene outside my apartment building. I slowly adjusted the numbers on the keypad and the event window moved into my house and right into my kitchen. I watched myself adjusting the viewer until I could pinpoint exactly where the event window was located. Then I stood up and walked through that point in the kitchen. I neither felt nor even sensed anything as the image went dark when my body encountered the unseen window. As I passed beyond the window location, the original image, sans my body, reappeared.
    "No one will ever have a clue that someone is watching them," I said aloud. "Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The government would kill me or even wipe out the entire City of New York in an instant to get their hands on this."
    I felt better for having made my decision, but I wondered if I would ever feel safe again. I hoped I didn't become like the neurotic conspiracy theorists who lived in a constant state of paranoia, but being aware of the danger, I wondered if there was any way to avoid it.
    * * *
    Over the next day and a half, I hardly left the kitchen. Only several quick bathroom breaks and the need for reference books took me briefly away from the device. I learned I could prepare food and eat while never missing a second of viewing time. The wonders offered by the viewer tugged at me as cocaine must tug at an addict. Using my World Atlas software and history books to determine the coordinates and dates, I watched as Christopher Columbus reached the New World for the first time. He was obviously anxious to be the first to step ashore, but history never recorded that as he leapt from a small boat, a wave struck him from behind. It caused him to trip on his cape, or perhaps his sword, and fall into the surf. Three of his men jumped in to pick him up as the rest howled with laughter until he glared at them. He looked more like a drowned rat than a conquering hero as he scrambled ashore and claimed the land for the King and Queen of
España
.
    I next watched the horrifying destruction of Pompeii and the