Touchstone (Meridian Series) by John Schettler, Mark Prost Read Free Book Online Page A

one—that much is
certain.
    The thought of Paul seemed to
give him a moment of  solace. He had to get back! He had to get to Paul and
tell him about this. If there was anyone else in the world that could help him
figure this out, it would be Paul. After all, he was the one who dreamt all
this time business up in the first place.
    He hurried along, as if the
quickening of his footsteps would somehow hasten his return to his own time
again. But he suddenly realized he was still stuck here. The retraction
sequence would not kick in for hours—at least in this time. Barely twenty
minutes had passed back in the  Berkeley labs. He had timed his jump to finish before Paul came on duty
tonight to relieve him of his shift, but at least he would be the only other
team member at the facility when Nordhausen completed his return… If there
still was a facility, a Paul Dorland, a world he could yet make any sense of.
    Maeve’s warnings were a cruel
crown of thorns for him now. He resolved to lock himself away in his hotel
room, where he waited miserably for the Arch to pluck him back to whatever
horror might await him in San Francisco , in the twenty first century.
     
    5
     
    The retraction sequence kicked in like clockwork and snatched the professor away in a
haze of icy fog. This time he made a point of keeping his eyes tightly closed,
so he could think things through with a clear head when he returned. He was
already wondering how he would explain all this to the other project team
members. Kelly’s Golems were sure to key in on the altered Meridian . He had little doubt that cell
phones were ringing and people were hurtling toward the lab facility to check
on the alert. In a way, that might help him, he thought. The Arch was set to
activate itself in the event of an alert. If anyone showed up and found the
turbines running the alert would provide a nice cover story. He could say he
was the first on the scene and…
           No… That just would not do. He knew that Kelly would certainly
be able to home in on the exact moment the equipment was activated. He’d retrieve
the exact coordinates, just like he uncovered the trip to Reading Station when
Nordhausen went after Lawrence ’s lost manuscript. Besides, these were his friends, and he had
given his word and… What should he do?
           To his great surprise, there was no one waiting for him at
the Arch when he returned. Excellent! The access corridor was empty when the
great locks separated. He rushed up the ramp to the elevator, and was bouncing
on his toes impatiently while it glided up 50 meters of rock. The tunnel
leading out of the hill to the lab was vacant. When he reached the heavy
automatic doors leading into the lab, he pressed his face to the small glass
window and peeked through. No one was there.
           He punched the button on the wall that opened the doors,
and they parted. The lab was empty, though the consoles were lit up and a
bright red emergency light was flashing on the alert panel. He quickly glanced
at the clock hanging on the wall. He had been gone about 30 minutes… unless it
was 12 hours and 30 minutes… or 25 years and 30 minutes… no, there was no use
getting lost in that! He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
           Be here now. Be here now.
           First things first. He had to get out of these silly
clothes and see what he could find out from the RAM bank report. He hurried to
his office, and doffed his Victorian outfit, his mind churning. Even as he
reflexively stuffed the clothing away in a laundry sack, he had the uncomfortable
feeling that he was already working his cover-up. Then the urgency of his
discovery seized him again. What was going on? Was the world the same one he
had left, or was it radically changed now? Kelly’s RAM bank should be noting
the differences and spitting out references by now. He hurried back to the lab,
almost afraid to see reams of computer paper littering the floor