The Tesla Legacy by Robert G. Barrett Read Free Book Online Page B

ordinary. But, my God! I wasn’t expecting this.’
    ‘Expecting what? What are you on about?’
    ‘Mick. I’m talking about death rays. Doomsday machines. The end of the bloody world.’ Jesse started to get a bit excited. ‘Jesus…!’
    Mick placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. ‘Now come on, Oz,’ he said. ‘Calm down. You’d think you’d just found another crop circle.’
    ‘Mick,’ said Jesse. ‘Would you mind getting me a drink?’
    ‘Sure, mate. What do you want? Tea, coffee…?’
    ‘No. I mean a drink drink. Bourbon. Ice, slice. Mineral water.’
    ‘Coming right up,’ said Mick. ‘I might even have one myself.’
    While Mick took a bottle of Jim Beam from thecabinet to the kitchen, Jesse put the two briefcases on the tiled coffee table and sat down on Mick’s blue velvet lounge. Mick came back, handed Jesse her drink, clinked her glass and sat down in a matching lounge chair opposite her. They both had a sip; Jesse had a particularly good one.
    ‘Okay,’ said Mick, making himself comfortable. ‘Fire away.’
    Jesse looked directly at Mick. ‘Mick,’ she said. ‘Have you ever heard of Nikola Tesla?’
    Mick shook his head. ‘No.’
    ‘You must know what a tesla coil is?’
    Mick picked at his chin. ‘Is it a part for a 1925 Maxwell?’
    ‘God! And you call yourself an electrician,’ said Jesse.
    ‘Sorry.’
    ‘Mick. Nikola Tesla was a genius. An electronics genius. Even smarter than Einstein. If it wasn’t for Tesla, you wouldn’t have AC/DC. Radio. Telephone. He took out hundreds of patents. He invented radar forty years before anyone else. He knew how to power the world using the earth’s electro-magnetic field. If Tesla had got his way, there’d be no need for power stations, telegraph poles, power points…’
    ‘Electricians?’
    ‘No, you’d still be around,’ said Jesse, taking another mouthful of her drink. ‘Unfortunately.’
    ‘Well, that’s nice to know,’ said Mick. ‘But what’s this Nikola Tesla got to do with the two old briefcases? They belonged to two blokes called Oldfield and Slate. I’m no Einstein, but I figured out Mrs Hedstrom’s uncle left them in the car, after he robbed the bank at Muswellbrook.’
    Jesse looked directly at Mick. ‘Mick,’ she said, ‘do you know what an anagram is?’
    Mick thought for a moment. ‘Yeah. We had one downstairs for Ray’s thirtieth. A sheila came round in a suspender belt, then sung it to him before she dropped her boobs out.’
    ‘Oh you goose,’ said Jesse. ‘That’s a bloody strippergram.’
    ‘Yeah? Well, whatever it was, it cost us two hundred bucks, I know that.’
    ‘Mick. An anagram is a word or phrase in which the letters can be rearranged into another word or phrase.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Like, Lana can be changed into Alan. Pots can be rearranged into Stop.’
    ‘Now I’m with you,’ nodded Mick, the bourbon starting to give him a slight glow.
    ‘Well, Slate is an anagram of Tesla,’ said Jesse.‘And Klaus is a Scandinavian form of Nikola. Short for Nicholas.’
    ‘Rigghht,’ said Mick.
    ‘So in my view,’ said Jesse, ‘Klaus Slate was actually Nikola Tesla.’
    Mick eyed Jesse over his glass. ‘Are you sure of this?’ he asked her.
    ‘Yes I am,’ said Jesse.
    ‘Okay,’ said Mick. ‘So what was he doing out here?’
    Jesse held up her glass. ‘Get me another drink and I’ll tell you.’
    Mick took Jesse’s glass. ‘Too many more of these and you won’t be driving home,’ he said.
    ‘Don’t worry. I’ve thought of that,’ said Jesse.
    ‘Hey. Unreal,’ smiled Mick, getting up to go to the kitchen.
    Mick returned with the two drinks. Jesse thanked him and took a sip as Mick sat down and made himself comfortable again.
    ‘Besides work,’ said Jesse, ‘I’ve been on the internet and going through books and whatever till my eyes feel like they’re hanging out.’
    ‘Yeah. They look a bit red,’ said Mick.
    ‘But I’ll tell you what I’ve found out and figured out